


Fathoms Below

by Alchemygirl8



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-17
Updated: 2018-09-21
Packaged: 2019-07-13 12:23:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 24,204
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16017854
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Alchemygirl8/pseuds/Alchemygirl8
Summary: Despite his father's warnings, Keith falls in love with the human prince Lance he rescues. In order to be with him, Keith makes a deal with the sea witch Haggar. He gets human legs but only has three days to make Lance fall in love with him. What could possibly go wrong?*Moved over from my account on Fanfiction.net*





	1. Mysterious Fathoms Below

It was a foggy grey day at sea. The fog made it somewhat hard to see what was ahead. But a good captain could always see where he was going.

This captain especially. The captain's name was Raphael, he was the captain of the RMS Millennium. He was the best captain out of the kingdom and was currently steering the ship back towards the kingdom. He smiled as he heard his crew singing to pass the time as they did their jobs. Like any sailor on the sea would do.

“ _I'll tell you a tale of the bottomless blue_  
_And it's hey to the starboard, heave-ho_  
_Look out, lad, a mermaid be waiting for you_  
_In mysterious fathoms below_ ”

As the crew sang, one man stood out from the rest. He was dressed in a pair of black pants, a white shirt with his sleeves rolled to his elbows, brown boots on his feet and a red belt around his waist. The man had tanned skin, brown hair, and blue eyes like the ocean. A smiled grazed his face as he took a breath, inhaling the scent of salt water. Beside him was his dog, Blue.

“Isn't this great? The salty sea air, the wind blowing in your face . . . a perfect day to be at sea!” he said, Blue barking in response. On the side of the ship, a man was leaned over the side of the ship. This man’s name was Coran. He was dressed in black pants, a blue shirt, a black jacket with thin long sleeves and brown knee length boots. The man had tanned skin, orange hair and had an orange mustache.

Now usually Coran was all for sailing, but today his stomach didn’t agree with him being on the sea. “Oh yes . . . delightful . . . .” he leaned back over emptying his stomach once more.

On the deck a sailor was pulling a rope and seemed to be struggling a little with it “A fine strong wind and a following sea,” Lance jumped down from his spot and helped the sailor with the rope.

“King Shiro must be in a friendly-type mood,” Lance turned to the sailor.

“King Shiro?” another sailor who was an elderly man spoke up picking fish out of the net.

“Why, ruler of the merpeople, lad. Thought every good sailor knew about him”.

Coran had joined them once his stomach settled,

“Merpeople! Lance, pay no attention to this nautical nonsense,” Lance pouted.

“But I’ve always heard the stories about King Shiro” Coran scoffed.

“Like I said it’s nothing but nonsense,” the sailor popped up behind Coran, fish in hand.

“But it ain't nonsense, it's the truth! I'm telling you, down in the depths o' the ocean they live,” the sailor said as he flung the fish up to Coran’s face, the fish slipping out of his hand.

The fish’s fin slapped Coran’s face a few time before plunging back into the ocean.

“ _Heave. ho. Heave, ho._  
_In mysterious fathoms below_ ”

Once back in the water the fish let out a sigh of relief. The fish began to swim home, passing by beautiful coloured reefs and eventually came to a castle. This castle was made of beautiful gold walls and stood tall and proud, right in the middle of the kingdom. This kingdom’s name was Altea.

At the moment the castle was very busy, merpeople and sea creatures alike were gathering in the castle to watch a performance by the king’s 6 daughters. And making his first concert appearance was his youngest child, his son Keith.

As everyone got settled in a fanfare began to play gathering everyone’s attention. A small orange sea horse appeared and cleared his throat.

“Ahem . . . His royal highness, King Shiro!” the crowd cheered as Shiro entered in a carriage being pulled by two dolphins. With his triton in hand Shiro lit up the chandelier at the top of the room and gold dust fell down to the crowd. The seahorse spoke once more.

“And presenting the distinguished court composer, Horatio Thelonious Ignacious Crustaceous Slav!” the crowd cheered as Slav entered next. He was a green crab with a light beige head. He was being pulled in a shell by two orange fish. He pulled up next to Shiro who smiled.

“I’m really looking forward to this performance, Slave” Slav nodded in response.

“Oh, Your Majesty, this will be the finest concert I have ever conducted. Your children - they will be spectacular!” Shiro nodded as he parked in his spot letting go of the dolphins.

“Yes, and especially Keith,” Slav nodded.

“Yes, yes, he has the most wonderful voice,” as he moved towards the stage he muttered under his breath with a role of his eyes. “If only he'd show up for rehearsals once in a while,” the crowd settled once more as the lights went down. Slav pulled a music book out of his shell and waited for the orchestra to be ready as the songs started.

Behind a bubble curtain, three shells raised up and opened revealing two daughters with each opening shell.

“ _Oh, we are the children of Shiro_  
_Great father who loves us and named us well_  
_Allura_ ”

Allura had tanned skin, blue eyes with purple. Her tail was a light blue with pink fins, her bra matching her tail. Her white hair was tied up in a bun with a golden crown keeping it in place.

“ _Hira_ ”

Hira had tanned skin and light blue eyes. Her magenta hair was cut in a pixie cut. Her tail was white with light blue fins, her bra matching her tail. A brown pearl necklace around her neck.

“ _Ecxa_ ”

Ecxa had tanned skin and dark purple eyes. She had dark brown hair with her bangs loose and the rest tied in a high bun. Her tail was purple with light indigo fins, her bra matching her tail and a black pearl necklace around her neck.

“ _Ezor_ ”

Ezor had tanned skin, teal eyes and light blue hair which was tied in a ponytail. Her tail was a dark teal with lighter teal fins, her bra matching her tail. She had a golden high choker around her neck and diamond shaped gold earrings.

“ _Shay_ ”

Shay had lightly tanned skin, green eyes, and brown hair in a bob cut. Her tail was green with light green fins matching with her green bra. A golden three long chained necklace around her neck.

“ _Narti_ ”

Narti had dark peach skin, light green eyes, and dark blue hair which was lied into a ponytail her curly bangs loose. Black spikes poked out of her ponytail. Her tail was dark indigo with blue fins matching her bra. A golden high collared necklace around her neck and a gold armband.

“ _And then there is the youngest in his musical debut_  
_Our youngest little brother, we're presenting him to you_ ”

A shell raised up and the sisters swam around it smiles on their faces.

“ _To sing a song Slav wrote, his voice is like a bell_  
_He’s our brother Kei......_ “

As the shell opened, it was revealed that Keith was not in the shell. The crowd and everyone else gasped all turning to the king. Shiro growled his grey eyes flashing purple and his triton glowing in anger.

“KEITH!”

* * *

 

Meanwhile, in a deserted graveyard of ships, a merman stared at a sunken ship in awe. The merman had pale skin, black hair, and violet eyes. His tail was a light red with lighter red fins, around his shoulder was a violet bag. This was Crown Prince Keith.

Beside him was his friend Pidge. She was shorter than him and a couple years younger to. She had light brown hair that was chopped to her neck, brown eyes that were blocked by a pair of glasses. Keith never understood the glasses, she never needed them, but wore them anyways. Pidge had a dark teal tail with green fins, she wore a matching teal top and a teal headband in her hair.

“Keith, Pidge, wait for me!” the two turned around and Keith gave Hunk a smile.

“Hunk, hurry up!” Hunk ended up beside Keith and sighed as they took a break. Hunk was Keith’s other friend, he younger than Keith by a year. Hunk had lightly tanned skin, brown hair tied in a ponytail with his bangs loose, and brown eyes. Hunk’s tail was orange with golden fins.

“You know I can't swim that fast,” Pidge rolled her eyes.

“Poor excuse, you can swim faster than your guppy form can,” Hunk glared at her.

“I’m not a guppy,” Pidge rolled her eyes. Hunk and Pidge were shapeshifters, they could change from animal to mermaid/man. Pidge’s form was a small teal dolphin with green on the underside of her body. Hunk was a tropical fish orange fish with yellow fins.

“There it is. Isn't it fantastic,” Keith said as he pointed towards the sunken ship. His friend turned and Hunk chuckled nervously.

“Yeah . . . sure . . . it - it's great. Now let's get outta here,” Keith snickered. Hunk went to turn away but Keith grabbed his arm and pulled his friend back.

“You're not getting cold fins now, are you?” Hunk shook his head as Keith started to swim down. Pidge followed along with Hunk behind her.

“Who, me? No way. It's just, it, err . . . it looks - damp in there,” Keith shared a look with Pidge as Hunk continued to mumble on. “Yeah. And I think I may be coming down with something. Yeah, I got this cough,” Hunk said as they approached the ship. As if trying to fool Keith, Hunk forced a few coughs. Pidge rolled her eyes and leaned against the side of the ship, which Hunk hadn’t realized they had reached.

“Yeah, some cough you got there Hunk,” Hunk nodded.

“I think it might be contagious, maybe we should go back”.

Keith poked his head through one of the small round windows and then turned back to his friends.

“All right. I'm going inside, Pidge can come with me, and Hunk you can just stay here and - watch for sharks,” Pidge swam inside, followed by Keith. Hunk nodded not really hearing the plan Keith had just stated.

“O.K. Yeah - you go. I'll stay and - what? Sharks!” Hunk’s eyes widened as he repeated what Keith told him. “Keeeith!” Hunk yelled as he turned into his fish form and ended up getting stuck in the window.”Keith . . . I can't . . . I mean--Keith, Pidge help!” Keith laughed as turned around and grabbed on to Hunk’s fins.

“Keith, do you really think there might be sharks around here?” Hunk whispered, unknown to the trio, a shark passed by and eyed the little fish.

“Hunk, don't be such a guppy,” Pidge and Keith whispered in unison. Hunk pouted as they finally pulled him through.

“I'm not a guppy”.

The trio moved throughout the ship(Hunk now back in human form) and ended up swimming down to the lower quarters.  
“This is great - I mean, I really love this. Excitement, adventure, danger lurking around every corn--” Hunk turned his head and ended up coming face to face with the skull of a pirate. Hunk screamed and backed up, right into a pillar. The pillar, which was holding up the weakened roof came crashing down along with the roof. Hunk yelped and swam towards his friends. “Keeith!” the trio slamming into the ground.

“Hunk, are you okay?” Keith asked as the trio stood themselves back up. Hunk nodded, despite his shaking.

“Yeah sure, no problem, I'm okay . . .” Keith smiled and glanced up.

“Shhh . . .” Keith swam up to the where the roof collapsed and ended up in a different room. Pidge and Hunk followed and glanced around the room. In the centre of the room, something silver caught Keith’s eye “oh my gosh! Oh my gosh!” Keith swam towards it and his friends slowly followed. “Have you ever seen anything so wonderful in your entire life?” Keith asked holding the object up to his friends. Hunk nodded.

“Wow, cool! But, err, what is it?” Keith shrugged.

“I bet Matt would know!” Pidge said with a smile. Matt was Pidge’s older brother. He to was a shifter, but he prefered to stay above the sea. Keith nodded and placed the object into his bag. Outside the large window, the same shark swam by, shaking the window slightly.

“What was that? Did you hear something?” Pidge sighed.

“I’m sure it was nothing Hunk, now come on,” Keith swam towards another object and picked it up.

“Hmm, I wonder what this one is?” Pidge shrugged as she continued to search.

“Keith..” Hunk wined trying to get the prince to listen to him.

“Hunk, will you relax. Nothing is going to happen,” as if his words were jinxed, Hunk turned around and came face to face with a giant shark. The sharks jaw opened and crashed through the window, Keith and Pidge turned with wide eyes as Hunk changed to fish form again and swam out of the way.

“AAHHHH!! Run!! Run!! We're gonna die!!” Hunk crashed into Keith’s arms and they hit the wall. The shark chomped his way over to them. Keith gripped Hunk in his arms and swam out of the way. The shark following close behind.

The trio swam out of the room and down the hall, Keith glanced behind them to see if the shark was coming. Without warning, the shark burst through the floor and Hunk screeched to a halt before the shark could comp down on him. The bottom half of the sharks mouth was beneath the floorboards.

That however, didn’t stop him from chomping his way towards where the trio was trying to escape from. Keith’s bag ended up getting stuck on a raised piece of the floor. Keith stopped and turned back to see the shark fast approaching.

Taking a risk, Keith swam back for his bag and grabbed it before the shark could chomp down on it. Keith swam up and the shark followed, forcing his way through the little escape route Keith took which ended him back at the porthole. Pidge had swam out fine, but Hunk had gotten stuck once more.

Keith pushed Hunk while Pidge pulled on his fins, Keith exited the ship, just as the shark broke through the weakened ship walls. The trio ended up swimming round and round a half destroyed mast. The shark following their same path. As Pidge and Keith swam by, a piece at the top of the mast ended up hitting Hunk in the head knocking the fish down.

Keith turned and dove down to grab his friend. His bag dropping to the ground, but Pidge was quick and grabbed it in her arms while she slowly made her way down. The shark was fast approaching Hunk and before it could chomp down Keith grabbed Hunk through the hole of a large dropped anchor and pulled back just in time. The shark was to big for the hole and his head ended up getting stuck in the hole.

Keith gave the shark a smile and started swimming up to the surface with Pidge. Hunk stuck his tongue out at the shark with a glare.

“You big bully” Hunk blew a raspberry at the shark and when the shark went to chomp pulled his tongue back just in time and swam shakily up to his friends, now in his human form.

“Hunk, you really are a guppy,” Keith said with a laugh.

“I am not” Hunk protested.

* * *

 

Above the surface, Matt, who was in seagull form, was busying himself with a telescope and humming to an unknown song.

“Matt!” came a familiar voice, his sister’s. Matt sat up and looked through the telescope, only, he looked through the wrong end. The group seemed to be far away, when really they were up at the rock.

“Whoa! Merpeople off the port bow! Keith, how you doin' kid?” Matt yelled. He lowered the telescope and jumped back in surprise. “Whoa, what a swim!” Matt said in surprise. Pidge rolled her eyes.

“Maybe if you were looking through the right end of the telescope Matt,” Matt rolled his eyes.

“I know what I’m doing sis”. Keith pulled his bag on to the rock.

“Matt--look what we found.”

“Yeah - we were in this sunken ship - it was really creepy” Hunk said as he pulled himself on to the rock beside Matt.

“Human stuff, huh? Hey, lemme see” Matt said as he dug into the bag, he ended up pulling out the silver object. “Look at this. Wow - this is special - this is very, very unusual” Matt said. Realization hit Pidge on where she had seen that object before.

“What? What is it?” Keith and Hunk asked in unison as Matt studied the object closely.

“It's a dinglehopper!” Keith leaned in closely as Matt swung to object around.

“Humans use these little babies . . . to straighten their hair out” Matt stuck in into his hair and twirled it around. “See - just a little twirl here an' a yank there and - voiolay!” Matt pulled and his hair was yanked out of the object and became a fluffied mess. “You got an aesthetically pleasing configuration of hair that humans go nuts over!” Pidge sighed.  
“Matt I actually think its used for--,” Pidge was interrupted by Keith who pulled the dinglehopper out of Matt’s winged grip.

“A dinglehopper!” Pidge rolled her eyes knowing it pointless at this point. As smart as her brother may be, his brain wasn’t wired to human stuff.

“What about that one?” Hunk asked pointing towards the pipe Keith had found. Matt picked up the pipe next and gasped.

“Ah - this I haven't seen in years. This is wonderful! A banded, bulbous - snarfblatt” Matt said as he held the pipe out to the two. Pidge rolled her eyes as she tried to keep what it actually was to herself. “Now, the snarfblat dates back to prehistoric times, when humans used to sit around, and stare at each other all day”. Matt dipped the pipe into the water and then held it upside down, a small jellyfish falling out. ”Got very boring,” Matt said as he went close to Hunk’s face. “So, they invented the snarfblat to make fine music. Allow me” Matt said as he blew into the pipe. Seaweed and sand popped out the other side, no music came out.

Keith’s eyes widened as realization hit him.

“Music? Oh, the concert!” Hunk’s eyes widened “Oh my gosh, my father's gonna kill me!” Keith said he pulled his bag over his shoulder.

“The concert was today?” Hunk said in surprise. Keith grabbed the pipe from Matt who was mumbling to himself, as well as the dinglehopper.

“Maybe you could make a little planter out of it or somethin’” Keith gave Matt a smile as he backed up a few feet.

“Uh, I'm sorry, I've gotta go. Thank you Matt!” with that, the trio dove back down and swam towards the palace.

* * *

 

Unknown to the trio, two eels were watching them. One was dark violet with black fins, the other was the opposite, with black with dark violet fins. One eye was normal, the other had a purple tint to it. This was present to both eels.

The two eels were hiding inside of a small cave, They slowly brought their eyes together, which formed an image for showing their master what was happening. Not so far away in a cave, a woman spoke out through the darkness.

“Yeeeeeees, hurry home, little prince. We wouldn't want to miss old daddy's celebration, now, would we?” the woman chuckled and rolled her eyes. “Huh! Celebration indeed. Bah! In MY day, we had fantastical feasts when I lived in the palace” the woman sighed and crawled out of her small cave she was hidden in.

The woman had purple skin, white hair to her shoulders, and yellow eyes. She was half Altean and half octopus. Her tentacles were dark purple with black on the underside. Around her waist was a black metal belt, and around her neck sat a golden seashell attached to a thick black string.

“And now, look at me - wasted away to practically nothing - banished and exiled and practically starving, while he and his flimsy fish-folk celebrate. Well, I'll give 'em something to celebrate soon enough” the woman turned towards the image of Keith, Pidge, and Hunk. “Sendak! Ladnock!”

The two eels flinches as the woman’s voice yelled in their minds. Ladnock hit her head on the rock and rubbed it gently with her tail. The two listened to their masters instructions.

“I want you to keep an extra close watch on this pretty little prine of his. He may be the key to Shiro's undoing. . . “.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Want to see the outfits in this AU? Check out my DeviantArt account under the name animelover8224. The outfits will be under the fold titled Klance Little Mermaid AU in my gallery.


	2. Part of That World

Keith had his head bent down as his father stated to reprimand him. Of course, he felt guilt flood through him as Slav was also giving him a look. He had missed the concert and celebration, something that was important to both his father and Slav.

King Shiro, Keith’s father and ruler of Altea. Shiro sat on the throne, Slav beside him and his triton on the other side. Shiro had pale skin, grey eyes, black hair with a white tuff. His tail was black with white fins, around his wrists were golden cuffs and on his head sat his golden crown.

“I just don't know what we're going to do with you, young man,” Shiro said as Keith winced. Pidge and Hunk were back a few feet from the entrance, under Keith’s orders to stay back.

“Dad, I'm sorry, I just forgot, I-,” Shiro shook his head.

“As a result of your careless behaviour-,” before he could finish Slav jumped in.

“Careless and reckless behaviour!” Keith winced.

“The entire celebration was, er-,” Shiro started to forget what he was going to say, so Slav jumped in.

“Well, it was ruined! That's all. Completely destroyed! This concert was to be the pinnacle of my distinguished career. Now thanks to you I am the laughing stock of the entire kingdom!” Keith’s head bowed down further as Shiro nodded in agreement.

Hunk had just about of the scolding, and without thinking, he swam up in front of Keith.

“But it wasn't his fault!” Hunk’s eyes widened as he realized the tone he used in front of the king. He was to far into the argument now to stop, so he kept going, trying to lighten up his mistake. “Ah - well - first, ahh, this shark chased us - yeah - yeah! And we tried to - but we couldn't - and - grrrrrrrrr - and - and we - whoooaaaaaa - oh, and then we were safe. But then this seagull came, and it was this is this, and that is that, and -”.

Keith and Pidge’s eyes widened as did Hunk’s. Shiro didn’t know that Keith ever went to the surface, nor was he supposed to. “Seagull? What? Oh - you went up to the surface again, didn't you? DIDN'T YOU?” Keith winced and Hunk hid behind Keith’s back. Keith sent a glare over his shoulder to his friend and turned back to his father.

“Nothing - happened,” Keith said trying to see reason with his father. Shiro sighed and got off his throne heading towards his son.

“Oh, Keith, How many times must we go through this? You could've been seen by one of those barbarians - by - by one of those humans!” Keith shook his head.

“But they're not barbarians!” Shiro sighed in frustration.

“They're dangerous. Do you think I want to see my youngest child snared by some fish-eater's hook?” Shiro said as he tried to get the thought through Keith’s head. Though, having his mother’s spirit, Keith snapped back at Shiro.

“I'm eighteen years old - I'm not a child anymore-,” Shiro growled. Hunk jumped at his raised voice and swam back to Pidge.

“Don't you take that tone of voice with me. As long as you live under my ocean, you'll obey my rules!” Keith huffed as Shiro continued to go on.

“But if you would just listen-,” Shiro shook his head and backed away to make himself taller than Keith.

“Not another word - and I am never, NEVER to hear of you going to the surface again. Is that clear” Keith was silent for a moment before he nodded softly.

“Yes _sir,_ ” Keith sneered the word out like it was a crime. Shiro went to yell again, but when he turned Keith was speeding out the throne room. Pidge and Hunk following sadly.

Shiro sighed and collapsed onto the throne. Slav propping himself onto the arm on the throne. Shiro turned to Slav

“Hm! Teenagers. . . . They think they know everything. You give them an inch, they swim all over you,” Shiro nodded slowly.

“Do you, er, think I - I was too hard on him?” Slav shook his head towards the king.

“Definitely not. Why, if Keith was my child, I'd show him who was boss. None of this "flitting to the surface" and other such nonsense. No, sir - I'd keep him under tight control,” Shiro’s eyes widened as a plan came to him.

“You're absolutely right, Slav” Slav nodded.

“Of course,” Shiro continued with a smile on his face.

“Keith needs constant supervision,” Slav nodded in agreement.

“Constant.”

“Someone to watch over him- to keep him out of trouble,” Slav nodded once more.

“All the time,” Shiro then poke Slave in the chest. The small crab’s eyes widened at the kings next words.

“And YOU are just the crab to do it,” Slav sighed and knowing he couldn’t argue with the king, headed out of the throne room and down the corridor.

“How do I get myself into these situations? I should be writing symphonies - not tagging along after some headstrong teenager.” Slav muttered to himself letting out a sigh. Slav glanced around and froze when he saw Keith, Hunk, and Pidge. Pidge handed Keith his bag and then the trio was heading out of the palace, careful that no one was following them. “What are those three up to now?”.

Slav followed the trio as they swam away from the palace and towards a rock formation with another rock in front of it. Slav watched as Keith pulled the rock back to reveal an entrance, Pidge and Hunk swam in first. Keith glanced around and when he deemed it okay, he swam in after his friends letting the rock close.

Slav quickly swam into the entrance, making it just in time before he would have gotten stuck in the entrance. Slav looked around and his eyes widened, all around him was all kinds of treasure. Human treasure. The whole grotto seemed to be a collection of human treasures. From above, a small hole in the top allowed the sun from the surface to shine down and glisten down on the treasure.

Keith sat a raised part of the floor, staring at the dinglehopper in sadness. Hunk and Pidge watched sadly, the prince’s mood affecting their own.

“Keith are you okay?” Hunk asked tenderly, Keith sighed.

“If only I could make him understand. I just don't see things the way he does. I don't see how a world that makes such wonderful things - could be bad,” Keith placed the fork **(I’m just going to use the human word now)** into the middle of the candelabra, the other two spots held a knife and spoon.

“ _Look at this stuff. Isn't it neat?_

_Wouldn't you think my collection's complete?_

_Wouldn't you think I'm the boy,_

_the boy who has everything?_ ”

Keith glanced up and stared at all his treasures. He never got tired of wondering what they were, and what they were for. Nor did he get tired of searching for something new for his collection.

“ _Look at this trove, treasures untold_

_How many wonders can one cavern hold?_

_Looking around here, you'd think_

_Sure, he's got everything_ ”

Keith swam over to where a bunch of pocket watches hung. He grabbed one and showed it to Hunk who smiled.

“I _'ve got gadgets and gizmos a-plenty_

 _I've got whozits and whatzits galore_ ”

Slav watched through a pair of glasses as Keith swam by.

“ _You want thing-a-mabobs? I've got twenty_ ”

Keith said opening a box filled with different object, and showed them to Pidge who smiled and grabbed the box. Keith then turned and laid his head down on one of the ledges. Keith longed for human treasures. Though what he really longed for, was something he didn’t, no, something he couldn’t have.

“ _But who cares? No big deal. I want more!_ ”

Keith swam towards a small figurine of a man and a woman dancing. When Keith turned it, the statue spun and made music.

“ _I wanna be where the people are_

 _I wanna see, wanna see 'em dancin’_ ”

Keith turned to Hunk and Pidge.

“ _Walkin' around on those..._

 _What do you call 'em?_ ”

Hunk pointed to the feet and Keith smiled.

“ _Oh, feet_ ”

Slav rolled his eyes as Keith swam around his grotto.

“ _Flippin' your fins you don't get too far_

 _Legs are required for jumpin', dancin'_ ”

Hunk smiled and grabbed the prince and spun around in a dance. Hunk then linked arms with Pidge and Keith and they ‘walked’ forwards.

“ _Strolling along down the..._

_What's that word again?_

_Street_ ”

Keith then let go of Hunk and swam up. Up to where the light was shining down. A school of purple shimmering fish swam by and Keith smiled as one struggled to keep up with the rest.

“ _Up where they walk_

_Up where they run_

_Up where they stay all day in the sun_

_Wanderin' free,_

_Wish I could be_

_Part of that world_ ”

Slav walked around and as he turned, came face to face with a reflection of himself. He jumped back in surprise and ended up crashing into an open coffee pot, which closed when he crashed into it.

“ _What would I give_

_If I could live_

_Outta these waters?_ ”

Keith lowered himself onto his back on the floor of the grotto. Hunk smiled and buried himself under the sand. Pidge sat beside Hunk and rolled her eyes at Hunk’s antics.

“ _What would I pay_

_To spend a day_

_Warm on the sand?_ ”

Keith shifted so he was leaning on his elbow and laying on his side. He sighed and stared at the sand sadly.

“ _Betcha on land_

_They understand_

_Bet they don't reprimand their children_ ”

Pidge gave a soft smile as Keith sat up, Hunk shook off the sand and sat next to Pidge.

“ _Bright young people,_

_Sick of swimmin'_

_Ready to stand_ ”

Keith swam up and out of the books, he plucked one and flipped pages. Hunk and Pidge watched as he pointed to several things. Meanwhile, Slav(still in the coffee pot) was stuck rolled. The lid being stuck shut.

“A _nd I'm ready to know what the people know_

 _Ask 'em my questions and get some answers_ ”

Keith swam towards a painting of a women sitting next to a lit candle and staring at it. Keith placed his hand on the flame and sighed.

“ _What's a fire and why does it..._

_What's the word?_

_Burn?_ ”

Keith moved away from the painting and swam up, Hunk and Pidge stayed on the ground beside where Keith had placed the fork earlier.

“ _When's it my turn?_

_Wouldn't I love,_

_Love to explore that shore up above?_ ”

Keith put his hand through the hole where the light source was coming from. He reached up as if to grasp the light in his own hands. He sighed sadly as he told himself he would never be able to.

“ _Out of the sea,_

 _Wish I could be_ ”

Keith dropped back down to where Hunk and Pidge were sitting. He remained staring at the light, Hunk and Pidge also watched the light.

“ _Part of that world_ ”

The coffee pot Slav was trapped in rolled off one the ledges and ended up breaking into pieces. Slav hit a Jack in The Box and ended up rebounding off. He grabbed on to a tablecloth and with his weight, ended up pulling the objects on the table off.

The trio turned in surprise and Hunk hid behind Pidge, who was hiding behind Keith.

“Slav!?” Slav straightened himself up and turned to the prince with a glare.

“Keith- what, are you mad? How could you - what is all this?” Keith gave a nervous smile and gesture to the grotto.

“It, err, it's just my - collection,” Slav nodded calmly.

“Oh. I see. Your collection. Hmmm. IF YOUR FATHER KNEW ABOUT THIS PLACE HE'D-”.

Hunk swam up to Slav with a frown. Pidge had come out of her hiding spot as well and sat beside Keith.

“You're not gonna tell him, are you?” Keith then swam up an gave Slav a desperate look.

“Oh, please, Slav, he would never understand” Slav sighed.

“Keith, you're under a lot of pressure down here,” Slav gently grabbed Keith’s fingers with his claw and started pulling him towards the entrance of the grotto. “Come with me, I'll take you home and get you something warm to drink” halfway through Slav’s speech a dark shape passed over the grotto, blocking the light. Hunk and Pidge glanced up, as did Keith.

“What do you suppose?” Keith asked as he pulled his hand out of Slav’s grip and started swimming towards the entrance.

“Keith?” He pushed the rock out of the way and swam towards the surface, Hunk and Pidge following. “Keith!” Slav reluctantly followed the trio.

Keith’s eyes widened as he heard a loud boom from the surface, as he breached the surface he found the shape to be a ship. The loud booms were colourful fireworks exploding from the ship. Hunk and Pidge breached from beside him and their eyes widened seeing the sight.

“Keith,  what-what are you- jumpin' jellyfish!” Slav’s eyes widened as he saw the ship. Keith dove down into the water and started swimming towards it, Hunk and Pidge following after him. “Keith, Keith!” Slav called after the prince “please come back!” though Keith was too far away to hear.

Keith swam to the ship and climbed his way up, Hunk and Pidge watched from the ocean. Though they did hold on to the ship as it moved. Keith perched himself on a ledge and looked through one of the holes on the ship. His eyes widened at the sight that he saw.

Men dressed in sailor uniforms were dancing to the music that was being played. Among the crowd was a dog with silver grey fur. The dog was barking happily as the crowd was all hyped up with the music and dancing. The dog then froze and started sniffing around. The dog sniffed around until it found Keith’s hiding spot.

Keith had hidden himself so that the dog would not alert that he was there. Especially with sailors on board. Keith turned back to see if the dog had gone, but when he turned the dog was panting happily. The dog then leaned forward and licked his cheek. Keith smiled and then a whistle made the dogs head jump up.

“Blue! Here girl!” Blue turned and bounded up happily to her master. Keith caught a glimpse of the boy and his eyes softened. The boy that Blue had run up to laughed as she started to lick his face. “Hey, come on, mutt, whatcha doing, huh Blue?” when the boy had enough of the dog licking his face he started to push her off. “Alright Blue that’s enough now”.

Keith’s eyes traveled up and down as he studied the boy. He had tan skin and brown hair. He was dressed in black pants, a white blouse with the sleeves rolled to his elbows, brown knee length boots, and a red belt around his waist. Keith was lost in staring that he didn’t really notice Matt flying about until he heard Matt yell.

“Hey there, Keith! Quite a show, eh?” Keith’s eyes widened and he turned to Matt to shoo him away.

“Matt, be quiet! They'll hear you!” Pidge yelled quietly to her brother. Matt got the point and flew down beside Keith.

“Oooh, I gotcha, I gotcha. We're being intrepidacious,” Keith rolled his eyes and turned back to the boy.

The boy was playing a flute and the dog was happily bouncing around him.

“I've never seen a human this close before, oh - he's very handsome, isn't he?” Matt for some odd reason thought he was talking about Blue. He stared at Keith with a questioning look.

“I dunno, he looks kinda hairy and slobbery to me,” Keith slapped him upside the head.

“Not that one - the one playing the snarfblat,” Matt’s eyes wandered to the human and he nodded. “Ah, that makes for sense then”.

“Silence! Silence!” called out a voice as he walked the deck. The music and the dancing stopped as a man with ginger hair and a matching coloured mustache caught everyone’s attention. “It is now my honour and privilege to present our esteemed Prince Lance with a very special, very expensive, very large birthday present”. Coran motioned to a huge shape covered by a cloth and tied with a blue ribbon. Lance chuckled and placed a hand on Coran’s shoulder.

“Ah, Coran - you old beanpole, you shouldn't have,” Coran nodded.

“I know,” Coran said, though Lance could tell he was joking. “Happy birthday Lance,” a few sailors untied the ribbon and pulled down the cloth, to reveal a statue of Lance.

Lance grimaced at the pose and Blue growled at it. The statue had Lance in a heroic pose, a shield underneath the raised foot with the initial L on it, and a sword in his left hand. He was dressed in what he should be wearing as a prince and had one arm in front of his chest.

“Gee, Coran. It's, err, it's, err - it's really somethin',” Coran nodded lost in his own world.

“Yes, I commissioned it myself. Of course, I had hoped it would be a wedding present, but,” Coran gave Lance a look. Lance rolled his eyes with a sigh.

“Come on, Coran, don't start. Look, you're not still sore because I didn't fall for the princess of Balmera, are you?” Coran sighed and waved everyone off as the two talked alone. The two walked towards the edge where Keith and Matt were. The two ducked down before they could be spotted.

“Oh, Lance, it isn't me alone. The entire kingdom wants to see you happily settled down with the right spouse” Lance sighed and sat on the edge of the ship.

“Well, that one’s out there somewhere. I just - I just haven't found them yet,” Coran sighed.

“Well, perhaps you haven't been looking hard enough,” he muttered.

“Believe me, Coran, when I find them I'll know - without a doubt. It'll just - bam! - hit me -” Lance turned back to Coran.”-like lightning” as if his words were jinxed lightning struck in the distance followed by thunder. The sky started to turn dark as storm clouds rolled in. Following the clouds came heavy rain.

“Hurricane a'commin'!! Stand fast! Secure the riggin'!” the sailor in the birds nest yelled as the waves started to grow and the ship started to sway. Lance’s eyes widened, sailors started to run to their positions. Lance grabbed hold of some rope and ran to help out as much as he could.

With the rocking of the ship and the strong wind, it made it hard to hold on. Pidge, Hunk, Matt, and Keith ended up being thrown off and crashing into the water. Matt turned into his mermaid form before he hit the water.

The ship went over a huge wave and the captain ended up being thrown from the wheel. Another wave crashed onto the ship and swept running sailors off their feet. Lance ran towards the fast spinning wheel and grabbed hold trying to steer the ship against the current.

Keith surfaced and his eyes widened when he saw lightning strike the ship's mast and the sails caught fire. With no light, it was hard to see where the ship was being steered. The ship ended up being steered in the path of a huge rock.

“Look out!“ Lance yelled as the ship crashed into the rock.

The force of the hit threw everyone overboard. All except Blue. Coran struggled to keep himself afloat and before he sank, Lance pulled him into the wooden boat. Barking caught Lance’s attention and he turned back to the ship. His eyes widened as he saw Blue trapped on the burning ship.

“Blue!” without warning, Lance dove back into the water and started swimming towards the ship.

“Lance!” Coran yelled out but Lance ignored his advisor and continued swimming towards the ship. Lance climbed onto the ship and jumped out of the way just in time as a piece of the mast with burning sails fell down. The burning piece of the wood crashed through the floor and into where the fireworks were being stored. Lance only had precious minutes to get off, with Blue. Blue barked at her master, Lance held his arms out as the flames started to grow.

“Jump Blue! Come on girl, jump! You can do it Blue!” Lance yelled as Blue finally jumped into his arms. With Blue in his arms, Lance started running towards the edge so they could get off. But at the last second his foot got stuck in wood, as he fell he tossed Blue into the water.

Lance tried to pull his foot out of the wood but it seemed to be really stuck. Coran had just pulled a shaky Blue into the boat and turned back to the swimming ship. He saw Lance trying to pull himself free and yelled at the prince in worry.

“Lance!” Lance turned back to Coran just as the fire reached the fireworks, the ship exploding as the fireworks went off.

The crew watched with eyes wide in horror as the ship went down, along with the prince. Keith gasped as the ship went down and swam to try and find the prince. The trio behind him yelling for him to come back. He searched through the debris of the ship for the prince. He turned and found the prince, unconscious and holding on weakly to a piece of the broken ship.

The prince ended up slipping into the water and down. Keith dove down and quickly caught the prince before he could fall any deeper. Keith pulled the prince up and breached the surface, making sure to keep the unconscious prince above the water.

Keith watched as the ship went down. He heard his friend calling his name, but his priority was saving the prince in his arms. He wrapped his arms tighter around the prince and swam to shore and quickly as he could.


	3. One Dance in Your World

The storm had died down finally. Keith had pulled Lance to the beach and laid the unconscious prince down on the sand. Lance’s boots had been pulled off and his black pants were ripped to below his ankles. His hair was drenched and his bangs covered his eyes slightly. Keith laid beside Lance as he watched in concern, the prince had yet to stir awake.

Keith turned as Matt flew down in his seagull form and landed beside the two.

“Is he - dead?” Keith asked hesitantly towards Matt, as Matt pulled open one of the prince’s eyes.

“It's hard to say,” Matt said as he walked towards Lance’s feet. Matt picked up one of Lance’s feet and held it to his ear, he shook his head sadly. “Oh, I - I can't make out a heartbeat,” Keith turned back to the prince as he started breathing.

“No, look! He's breathing” Keith said as he brushed the bangs out of Lance’s face to reveal the closed eyes. “He's so, beautiful.”.

“ _What would I give to live where you are?_

_What would I pay to stay here beside you?_

_What would I do to see you smiling at me?_ ”

Pidge and Hunk pulled themselves onto the beach, their tails in the water. Slav washed up between the two and Matt flew back to give the prince privacy with the human. He changed into his mermaid form, his greenish brown tail with dark gold fins, sat in the water.

Slav glanced up and his mouth dropped as he caught sight of Keith with the unconscious human prince. A million thought ran through his head. The trio around his smiled and pushed his mouth back up as the stared at the sight.

“ _Where would we walk?_

 _Where would we run?_ ”

As Keith continued to sing, the clouds parted and a ray of sun shone down on the two. Keith placed his hand on Lance’s cheek and ran his thumb over the soft skin. At this point, Lance started to wake up.

" _If we could stay all day in the sun?_

_Just you and me_

_And I could be part of your world_ ”

Lance caught sight of the male in front of him, but only slightly as he was still just waking up. The sun behind Keith shadowed most of Keith’s face, Lance did, however, fully catch the soft voice that was singing to him.

“Lance!” Keith jumped as the sound of a dog barking approached. Keith pulled his hand back and followed his friends back into the water. Blue ran up to her master and licked his face, Lance drew back and wiped the dog slobber off his face. Blue turned to the water and caught sight of a red tail with light red fins disappearing into the ocean.

Blue headed into the water as Coran helped Lance up. His black pants were ripped to the knees, his shoes and socks were lost, and his jacket was lost as well, leaving the blouse exposed.

“Oh, Lance. You really delight in these sadistic strains on my blood pressure, don't you?” Lance tuned out what Coran was saying, it was as if he was lost in a trance. Blue continued barking at the spot where she saw the tail as Lance walked around trying to make sense of what he saw.

“A boy - rescued me. . . . he was - singing . . . he had the most - beautiful voice,” Lance almost toppled over but Coran quickly caught him and pulled the prince’s arm over his shoulder.

“Ah, Lance, I think you've swallowed a bit too much seawater. Off we go. Come on, Blue!” Coran called as they left the beach. Blue had drenched herself trying to find the tail but at hearing Coran and seeing them leaving, she abandoned her mission and ran after them. The salt water dripping from her fur.

Keith, Hunk, Pidge, Matt, and Slav watched as the humans and the dog left the beach. Keith was slowly crawling up the rock to watch the prince.

“We just gotta forget this whole thing ever happened. The sea king will never know” Slav turned to the group “you won't tell him, I won't tell him. I will stay in one piece”.

Keith, however, had tuned them out and pulled himself more up the rock.

“ _don't know when_

_I don't know how_

_But I know something's starting right now_

_Watch and you'll see_

_Someday I'll be part of your world_ ”

Keith pulled himself up and the waves crashed behind him. The waves spraying him lightly with salt water. The others flinched as the wave hit them off the rock. Keith lowered himself back down as Blue turned back around and started barking.

* * *

 

The group then sat back on the rock as the humans left and Blue finally left with them. Unknown to the trio, Sendak and Ladnock were watching, their eyes projecting back to Haggar.

“Oh, no, no, no, no, no, no,” Haggar laughed as she watched the image of the prince. “I can't stand it - it's too easy. The child is in love with a human. And not just any human - a prince! His daddy'll _love_ that,” Haggar said as a plan formed in her head.

“King Shiro's headstrong, lovesick son would make a charming addition to my little garden,” Haggar said as she glanced to where former merfolk were now in the form of polyps. The polyps shrunk back as she approached.

* * *

 

The next morning, Keith’s sisters were all sitting in the dressing room, getting ready for the day.

“Keith dear, time to come out!” Shay called out as she looked towards their shared bedroom. “You've been in there all morning,” Keith swam out of his room, humming along to the song he sang to Lance the day before. His sisters gave him a strange look as he quickly combed through his hair.

“What is with him lately?” Allura asked. Keith had been acting this way since he came home yesterday afternoon. Her sisters shrugged in response. Keith pulled one of the flowers from the pots and sniffed it gently.

Keith went to leave the room and almost ran into his father, which neither he nor his sisters heard or saw come in.

“Morning father,” Keith said handing the flower to Shiro who stared at his son. Keith then swam off still humming to the song. Shiro and his daughters stared at Keith as Pidge and Hunk joined him at the end of the hall.

“Oh, he's got it bad,” Allura said connecting the dots, Shiro turned to his oldest in confusion.

“What? What has he got?”  Shay smiled towards her father.

“Isn't it obvious, Daddy? Keith's in love” Shiro’s eyes widened as he stared at the flower Keith had handed him.

“Keith? In love?”.

* * *

 

Meanwhile, Slav had followed the trio out of the palace and to a rock where Keith was picking petals off a flower. Hunk and Pidge sat on the edge of the rock and watched their love struck friend with amusement. Slav meanwhile was pacing back and forth under the raised part of the rock, the petals Keith was picking falling down in front of him.

“O.K. So far, so good. I don't think the king knows. But it will not be easy keeping something like this a secret for long.” Keith continued pulling flower petals while muttering to himself with each one plucked.

“He loves me . . . hmmm, he loves me not,“ seeing only one petal left Keith smiled and hugged the petal close to his chest. He rolled onto his back and closed his eyes, Hunk and Pidge shared a smile of amusement. Pidge then swam off when Hunk whispered in her ear. “He loves me! I knew it!” Slav swam up to beside Hunk and gave Keith a look.

“Keith, stop talking crazy,” Keith then sat up, dropping the petal in his hand.

“I gotta see him again - tonight!” Slav’s eyes widened as Keith ignored what he just said. “Matt knows where he lives,” Keith then swam off the rock, Slav grabbed onto his fin with his claws as Hunk stayed seated on the rock.

“Keith- please. Will you get your head out of the clouds and back in the water where it belongs?” Slav asked as Keith continued to tune out what he was saying.

“I'll swim up to his castle. Then Hunk will splash around to get his attention, and then with-,” Hunk gave Keith a confused look, he didn't sign up for this plan. Slav sighed and let go of Keith’s tail.

“Down HERE is your home!” Slav then swam in front of Keith who had started to swim back to grab Hunk. The prince halted and Slav continued to scold the prince. “Keith- listen to me. The human world - it's a mess. Life under the sea is better than anything they got up there”.

Slav then backed Keith up until he was sitting on the rock with Hunk again.

“ _The seaweed is always greener_

_In somebody else's lake_

_You dream about going up there,_

_But that is a big mistake_ ”

Slav noticed Keith was staring up at the surface and swam around to face the prince. Slav then pulled his chin down and waved a claw, Keith gave him a look and then rolled his eyes.

“ _Just look at the world around you_

_Right here on the ocean floor_

_Such wonderful things surround you_

_What more are you lookin' for?_ ”

As Slav sang, sea creatures that passed by were soon joining him in his song.

“ _Under the sea_

_Under the sea_

_Darling it's better_

_Down where it's wetter_

_Take it from me!_

_Up on the shore they work all day,_

_Out in the sun they slave away_

_While we devotin'_

_Full-time to floatin',_

_Under the sea!_ ”

Slav laughed as a lobster started to play seashell as if they were a xylophone. Through song, Slav was trying to get the merprince to see reason.

“ _Down here all the fish is happy_

_As off through the waves they roll_

_The fish on the land ain't happy_

_They sad 'cause they in their bowl_ ”

As Slav continued to sing a sad fat fish in a bubble floated past Keith. The prince gave the fish a sad look and watched the fish go past. Slav swam in Keith’s face and the prince jumped back in surprise. Slav then moved to the fish and popped his bubble.

“B _ut fish in the bowl is lucky_

_They in for a worser fate_

_One day when the boss get hungry…_ ”

The fish ended up landing on a plate with fruits and seaweed on it.

“ _Guess who's gon' be on the plate?_ ” the fish sang pointing at himself.

“ _Under the sea_

_Under the sea_

_Nobody beat us_

_Fry us and eat us_

_In fricassee_ ”

Keith had by now tuned Slav out, he was playing with some red flowers that were grown into the ground. The flowers then popped up and turned into small seahorses. The seahorses swam around Keith creating a bubble whirlpool, which sent bubble up Keith’s back. A smile cracked on the prince’s face at the action.

“ _We what 'de land folks loves to cook_

_Under the sea we off the hook_

_We got no troubles,_

_Life is the bubbles!_

_Under the sea (under the sea)_

_Under the sea (under the sea)_

_Since life is sweet here,_

_We got the beat here_

_Naturally_

_Naturally-y-y-y_ ”

As the song continued, Slav became lost in his own musical world. More sea creatures had heard the commotion and started to play along to the music.

“ _Even the sturgeon an' the ray_

_They get the urge 'n' start to play_

_We got the spirit_

_You got to hear it_

_Under the sea!_

_The newt play the flute_

_The carp play the harp_

_The plaice play the bass_

_And they soundin' sharp_

_The bass play the brass_

_The chub play the tub_

_The fluke is the duke of soul (Yeah)_

_The ray he can play_

_The lings on the strings_

_The trout rockin' out_

_The blackfish she sings_

_The smelt and the sprat_

_They know where it's at_

_An' oh that blowfish blow!_ ”

Slav pointed out each animal and their instrument to Keith as he continued to sing. Hunk noticed Pidge waving to him and whispered in the prince’s ear. The prince smiled and nodded, with Slav distracted they swam away and followed Pidge.

“ _Yeah!_

_Under the sea_

_(Under the sea)_

_Under the sea_

_(Under the sea)_

_When the sardine_

_Begin the beguine,_

_It's music to me_

_(Music is to me)_

_What do they got? A lot of sand_

_We got a hot crustacean band_

_Each little clam here_

_Know how to jam here_

_Under the sea!_

_Each little slug here_

_Cuttin' a rug here_

_Under the sea!_

_Each little snail here_

_Know how to wail here_

_That's why it's hotter_

_Under the water!_

_Ya we in luck here_

_Down in the muck here_

_Under the sea!_ ”

At the end of the song, the creatures posed and their faces fell when they saw the prince had gone.

“Keith?” Slav asked as everyone started to leave. Slav sighed and sat down “Oh . . . somebody's got to nail that boy's fins to the floor.” Suddenly a seahorse from the palace swam up to Slav, panting as if he just swam a marathon.

“Slav! Slav, I've been looking all over for you. I've got an urgent message from the sea king” Slav turned to the seahorse with a nervous look.

“The sea king?” the little seahorse nodded.

“He wants to see you right away - something about Keith.” Slav gasped and his anxiety levels started to rise. 

 

“He knows!”

* * *

 

Meanwhile, in the palace, Shiro was sitting on the throne, the flower from Keith still in his hands.

“Let's see, now. . . . Oh, who could the lucky merfolk be?” Shiro asked happy that his youngest was in love. He glanced up and saw Slav at the doorway of the throne room, Shiro however, failed to notice how nervous the crab was. “Come in Slav,” Shiro said as he hid the flower behind his back. Slav took a deep breath and slowly crawled in.

“I mustn't overreact. I must remain calm,” he muttered to himself as he approached the throne. Slav stopped before the throne and spoke to the king. “Yes,“ Slav started to say but his voice pitched, showing how nervous he was. He cleared his throat and spoke to the king normally. “Yes, Your Majesty,” Shiro turned his gaze to the crab from where the flower was hiding.

“Now, Slav, I'm concerned about Keith. Have you noticed he's been acting peculiar lately?” Slav chuckled nervously and rubbed his head with his claw.

“Peculiar?” Shiro nodded.

“You know, moaning about, daydreaming, singing to himself. . . . You haven't noticed, hmm?” Shiro asked giving Slav a look. The crab grew more nervous.

“Oh - well, I -.”

“Slav. . . .” Shiro said grabbing the crabs attention.

“Hmmm?” Slav asked innocently.

“I know you've been keeping something from me,” Shiro waved his finger, a sign for the crab to come closer.

“Keeping . . . something?” Slav said giving a nervous smile.

“About Keith?” Slav felt his legs start to shake and quickly hid them from view.

“Keith…?” Slav asked innocently once more.

“In love?” Shiro suggested trying to finally get the point across. Slav finally broke and collapsed on the arm of the throne.

“I tried to stop him, sir. He wouldn't listen. I told him to stay away from humans - they are bad, they are trouble, they-,” Shiro’s eyes widened as anger filled him. His tident glowed as he stood up in anger.

“Humans? WHAT ABOUT HUMANS?” realization hit Slav that they weren't talking about the same topic.

“Humans? Ho ho ho ho. . . . Who said anything about humans?”. Slav tried to back away, but Shiro grabbed the crab in anger and ordered him to take him to his son.

* * *

 

Keith pulled back the rock that hid the entrance to his grotto. He then followed Hunk and Pidge in.

“Hey you two, why can't you just tell me what this is all about?” Pidge gave a smile.

“You'll see,” Hunk also gave the prince a smile

“It's a surprise.”

Keith gasped when Hunk and Pidge moved out of the way. In front of him sat the statue of Lance from the night of the shipwreck.

“Oh, Pidge, Hunk you're the best!” Keith exclaimed as he gave the two a hug. Something he didn’t really do. “It looks just like him. It even has his eyes,” Keith pointed out.

( **A/N: Now this song wasn’t in the movie, but I love this song so much that I decided to put it in here. The song is called One Dance by Jodi Benson. I highly recommend listening to it** )

Keith was lost in his own world as he swam up to the statue. Staring the eyes, Keith couldn’t help but imagine life a human. Something he desperately wanted

“ _There is music in the air, can you hear it?_

_It's in two, no_

_Maybe three_

_Or maybe four_

_And I see me dressed in white_

_With two feet that feel so light_

_It's as though they've never ever touched the floor_ ”

Keith swam around the statue as if in a dance. Hunk couldn’t help but join in the dance.

“ _One dance,_

_Just you and me_

_Beneath the moon_

_Jeside the sea_

_One dance_

_And it's happily ever after_

_One dance_

_And you will see_

_We're not so different_

_You and me_

_Just us two_

_Me and you_

_One dance_ ”

Keith just wished that his father would see it like he does. Despite being of different worlds, they were not that different from the humans.

“ _There are stars that fill the night_

_Can you see them?_

_There are two_

_Or three or gee_

_A million more_ ”

Keith glanced up as fish swam by, their bodies shining in the light as if stars in the night sky. He turned back to the statue with a smile and grabbed the hand.

_“And I see you in their light_

_Who, me?_

_A dance?_

_All right._

_Just to move and glide with you across the floor_ ”

Hunk grabbed Keith’s hand and they continued in another dance. Pidge smiling on the sidelines. Her friends could truly be idiots sometimes, but nevertheless, she loved them.

“ _One dance_

_Just you and m_

_Beneath the moon_

_Beside the sea_

_One dance_

_And it's happily ever after_

_One dance and you will see_

_We're not so different_

_You and me_

_Just us two_

_Me and you_ ”

Keith then sat on the ground in front of the statue. He stared longingly at the legs, wishing he to had legs.

“ _I would change who I am_

_Leave the sea for the sand_

_Just to stand with you_

_I would leap at the chance_

_For a glimpse of a glance_

_Of one dance with you_ ”

Hunk gave a smile and grabbed his friends and they started a three-way dance.

“ _One dance_

_Just you and me_

_Beneath the moon_

_Beside the sea_

_One dance_

_And it's happily ever after_

_One dance and you will see_

_We're not so different_

_You and me_

_Just us two_

_Dream come true_

_One Dance_ ”

Keith let go of his friends and headed back to the statue. Hunk and Pidge finished the dance and then sat on the ground, smiles on their face.

“ _One Dance_ ”

Keith smiled as he placed a hand on the shoulder of the statue. “Why, Lance, run away with you? This is all so - so sudden. . . .” Hunk and Pidge rolled their eyes at their love-struck friend. Keith spun around and he froze when he caught sight of an angry King Shiro at the entrance.

“Dad!”


	4. Part of That World Now

Hunk and Pidge’s eyes widened when they the angry king. Quickly, they swam behind the large rock as Slav watched with guilt. Keith gave him a look, knowing that Slav had told his father.

“I consider myself a reasonable merman. I set certain rules, and I expect those rules to be obeyed,” Keith shrunk back at his father’s tone.

“But Dad I--,” before he could finish Shiro spoke up.

“Is it true you rescued a human from drowning?” Keith avoided his father’s hard gaze.

“Dad, I had to” Shiro shook his head.

“Contact between the human world and the mer-world is strictly forbidden,” Keith slowly began to move behind the statue as his father grew angrier. “Keith, you know that! Everyone knows that!”

“He would have died,” Shiro scoffed as he turned around.

“One less human to worry about!” Keith glared at his father

“You don't even know him,” Shiro turned back around to find Keith now fully behind the statue.

“Know him? I don't have to know him. They're all the same. Spineless, savage, harpooning, fish-eaters, incapable of any feeling,” before Keith could stop himself he spoke out whatever was on his mind.

“Dad, I love him!” everyone's eyes widened at the prince’s words, including Keith’s.

“No . . . Have you lost your senses completely? He's a human, you're a merman!” Keith hid his head behind the statue.

“I don't care,” he growled out, Shiro growled back in response.

“So help me Keith, I am going to get through to you,” Keith’s eyes widened as his father straightened himself. “And if this is the only way, so be it,” the trident in Shiro’s hand glowed and the grotto turned dark, the only light was the trident. Shiro then turned and started destroying the treasures in the grotto, ignoring Keith’s pleas.

“Dad!...No . . . ,“ Shiro ignored his son and continued destroying the treasures. Debris falling everywhere from the explosions.

“No, please- Dad, stop!. . .” Keith could feel his heart breaking as his treasures were destroyed. Worse, was that his father wouldn’t stop with his pleas.

Keith swam out from behind the statue to try and stop his father. Shiro saw his son move from behind the statue and turned around. He pointed his trident towards it and Keith’s violet eyes widened. He knew what his father was going to do.

“Daddy, Nooo!!. . .” Keith yelled as Shiro struck the statue with his magic, the statue breaking into a million pieces.

The darkness faded and once the smoke had cleared, Keith gasped as the statue was no longer where it had stood. His heart broke as his last connection to the human world had been broken. Shiro had somewhat calmed down from his anger fit and he replayed what had happened in his head.

His eyes widened when he realized what Keith had called him as a last resort to get him to stop. He glanced around the grotto and his heart tore as he saw his sons' precious treasures were now destroyed. Keith collapsed on the spot where the statue sat and started sobbing his broken heart out.

Shiro’s heart broke even more. He wanted to say something, but nothing he could say could fix what he had just done. Shiro turned and headed out of the grotto, his heart heavy as he headed back to the palace.

Slav crawled up to Keith as Hunk and Pidge came out of their hiding spot. Their eyes downcast as they glanced around the grotto, their hard work of finding the treasures, now destroyed.

“Keith I…” Slav began to say, but Keith shook his head and spoke between sobs.

“Just go away” Slav nodded sadly and exited the grotto. Pidge and Hunk following, knowing Keith wanted privacy at the moment.

From above Sendak and Ladnock had seen the whole scene. They swam in and started to head towards the crying prince.

“Poor child” Sendak commented.

“Poor, sweet child” Ladnock continued as they swam over the prince. Keith stopped crying and glanced up at the two eels.

“He has a very serious problem” Sendak commented as they swam loser.

“If only there were something we could do,” Ladnock said following her companion.

“But there is something,” Sendak said, twin smiles growing on their faces. Keith wiped his eyes and sniffled.

“Who - who are you?” Keith asked, his voice wavy from the crying. Ladnock smiled and swam closer.

“Don't be scared, we represent someone who can help you,” Sendak said from behind. Ladnock swam around Keith and popped up beside Sendak.

“Someone who could make all your dreams come true,” Sendak swam behind Keith and the two eels wrapped their tails around each other.

“Just imagine-,” Sendak started to say while Ladnock continued.

“You and your prince-,” then in unison they spoke together.

“Together, forever. . . .,” Keith shook his head. The two were speaking in rhymes.

“I don't understand,” Sendak smiled.

“Haggar has great powers,” Keith’s eyes widened at the name.

“The sea witch? Why that's - I couldn't possibly--,” Keith shook his head as anger filled him. “--no! Get out of here! Leave me alone!” the eels blinked in surprise not expecting that of all things to be said.

Keith turned back to where the statue stood and laid his head down in his arms. Ladnock sighed as they turned around.

“Suit yourself” the eels passed the face of Lance, the only piece of the statue left.

“It was only a suggestion,” Sendak said flicking it with his tail towards Keith.

Keith glanced down and picked up the broken statue’s face. His heart hurting at the memory. Keith turned to the eels who were almost at the entrance of the grotto. “Wait” he called out, the eels turned, smiles on their faces.

“Yeeeeeeeeeess?”

Outside the entrance, Hunk and Pidge sat outside while Slav was pacing slightly, Hunk sniffled.

“Poor Keith,” Pidge nodded and turned to glare at Slav.

“If only someone hadn’t told his father,” Slav winced.

“I didn't mean to tell, it was an accident,” Shadows passing above them made the three turn their heads up. Above them, Keith was swimming away from the grotto with two eels beside him. “Keith - where are you going?” Slav asked as he swam backward in front of Keith. The prince refusing the look at him, instead glancing at Hunk and Pidge. “Keith, what are you doing here with this riff-raff?” Slav asked as he gestured to the two eels who glared at him but kept going.

“I’m going to see Haggar,” Keith said as he swam past Slav. Slav’s eyes widened and he grabbed onto Keith’s fins.

“Keith, no! No, she's a demon, she's a monster!” Keith froze and turned to Slav with a glare. 

“Then why don’t you go tell my father, you’re good at that,” Keith then flicked the crab off his tail and continued swimming.

“But . . . But, I,” guilt filled Slav, while he may have told Keith’s secret, he still had a job to do. He turned to Hunk and Pidge who were watching the prince swim off. “Come on,” the trio then followed Keith who was already way ahead and made no intention of stopping to let them catch up.

* * *

 

Haggar’s lair was far away from the kingdom. Of course, she was banished. The entrance to the lair of in the shape of a lion head with its jaws open. Purple and magenta lights shone through to outside. Keith stopped in front of the entrance and started to wonder if it was a good idea.

Sendak and Ladnock turned around and motioned for him to follow.

“This way,” Keith slowly started to follow them through the entrance. Keith was greeted by the sight of Haggar’s garden, the polyps groaned and wined as he passed. Keith for once, felt fear as he passed through them. He couldn't help but wonder what kind of person Haggar really was.

One polyp decided to be brave and pulled itself up and wrapped itself around Keith’s wrist. Keith’s eyes widened and he quickly pulled his wrist free and pushed himself back up out of the reach.

“Come in. Come in, my child. We mustn't lurk in doorways-,” Keith turned and headed further in, the eels gone now, he headed in until he reached the lair. Haggar pulled herself out of her small cave. Her yellow eyes glowing slightly “--it's rude. One MIGHT question your upbringing,” Haggar said as she headed over to a couch and sat down. “Now, then. You're here because you have a thing for this human. This, er, prince fellow.” Keith’s eyes widened.

“How did you--,” Haggar motioned for him to be quiet and patted the seat next to her. Keith sat down but kept an eye on the strange woman. “Not that I blame you he is quite a catch, isn't he? Well, darling, the solution to your problem is simple. The only way to get what you want is to become a human yourself,” Haggar said giving the prince a smile.

Keith’s eyes widened “Can you do that?” Haggar smiled and patted the prince on the head. The prince was playing right into her hands. “My dear, sweet child. That's what I do--it's what I live for. To help unfortunate merfolk--like yourself. Poor souls with no one else to turn to,” Hagar got off the couch and suddenly Sendak and Ladnock appeared again.

“ _ I admit that in the past I've been a nasty _

_ They weren't kidding when they called me, well, a witch _

_ But you'll find that nowadays _

_ I've mended all my ways _

_ Repented, seen the light, and made a switch _

_ True? _

_ Yes _ ”

Haggar headed over to her cauldron which opened with a wave of her hand. Purple smoke filtered out of the open cauldron and lit up the room with a purple tint.

“ _ And I fortunately know a little magic _

_ It's a talent that I always have possessed _

_ And here lately _

_ Please don't laugh, _

_ I use it on behalf _

_ Of the miserable, lonely and depressed _ "

Haggar waved her hand an image of a very thin merman and a fat mermaid appeared. She whispered the last word to Sendak and Ladnock who laughed in response. “ _ Pathetic _ ”.

“ _ Poor unfortunate souls _

_ In pain, in need _

_ This one longing to be thinner _

_ That one wants to get the girl _

_ And do I help them? _

_ Yes, indeed  _ "

Haggar motioned to each image as she sang and with a snap of her fingers, they changed. The thin merman was now perfectly muscled and the mermaid was now in perfect shape with beautiful locks of hair. The two smiled and hugged each other in happiness.

“ _ Those poor unfortunate souls _

_ So sad, so true _

_ They come flocking to my cauldron _

_ Crying "Spells, Haggar, please!" _

_ And I help them? Yes I do _ ”

Hunk, Pidge, and Slav appeared at the entrance and started to swim/crawl in. Hunk went to leave but Pidge grabbed his wrist and pulled him back in as they continued to enter Haggar’s lair.

Haggar turned to the couple and the two stared at her in concern. Keith watched as the couple turned into one of the polyps in the entrance.

“ _ Now it's happened once or twice _

_ Someone couldn't pay the price _

_ And I'm afraid I had to rake 'em 'cross the coals _

_ Yes I've had the odd complaint _

_ But on the whole I've been a saint _

_ To those poor unfortunate souls _ ”

Haggar then appeared behind Keith and wrapped an arm around his shoulders. Keith jumped and found himself being dragged over to her cauldron.

“Now, here's the deal. I will make you a potion that will turn you into a human for three days,” Keith nodded and Haggar continued. “Now listen, this is important. Before the sun sets on the third day, you've got to get dear ol' princey to fall in love with you,” Haggar created three small suns which spun around as if they were setting. Haggar waved her hand and a crown appeared followed a red heart which settled inside the crown.

“That is, he's got to kiss you. Not just any kiss, the kiss of true love,” the heart and crown then started to glow golden. The trio entered the lair and watched as Keith took in what the which was saying. “If he does kiss you before the sun sets on the third day, you'll remain human, permanently,” Keith smiled as an image of him with legs was running in place. However, next the image turned him back into a merman and his smile dropped.

“But - if he doesn't, you turn back into a mermaid, and - you belong to me,” Slav’s eyes widened. “No Keith!” Slav yelled grabbing the prince’s attention. Sendak and Ladnock wrapped themselves around the trio, making sure that Slav couldn’t speak.

“Have we got a deal?” Haggar asked as Keith turned back to the witch. Thoughts running through his head.

“If I become human, I'll never be with my father or sisters again,” Haggar nodded sadly but a smile remained on her face.

“That's right. . . . But - you'll have your man. Life's full of tough choices, innit?” Keith pulled back and sighed. “Oh - and there is one more thing. We haven't discussed the subject of payment. You can't get something for nothing, you know,” Keith shook his head.

“But I don't have any--,” the prince was silenced when Haggar placed a tentacle over his mouth.

“I'm not asking much. Just a token, really, a trifle. You'll never even miss it. What I want from you is . . . your voice,” Haggar said pointing to where Keith’s vocal cords would be. Keith stared at the witch like she was crazy.

“My voice?” Haggar nodded “you've got it, sweetcakes. No more talking, singing, zip,” she said popping the p, Keith a held to his throat.

“But without my voice, how can I -” Haggar rolled her eyes getting annoyed now.

“You'll have your looks! Your pretty face! And don't underestimate the importance of body language! Ha!” Haggar pushed past Keith and headed to a seashell cupboard.

“ _ The men up there don't like a lot of blabber _

_ They think someone who gossips is a bore! _

_ Yes, on land it's much preferred _

_ for ladies not to say a word _

_ And after all, dear, what is idle prattle for? _ ”

Haggar started throwing bottles out of the cupboard and the bottles ended up being tossed into the cauldron, the smoke now turning Blue. Keith watched with wide eyes as the bottles continued to be thrown.

“ _ Come on, they're not all that impressed with conversation _

_ True gentlemen avoid it when they can! _

_ But they dote and swoon and fawn _

_ on a lady who's withdrawn _

_ It's she who holds her tongue who gets a man! _ ”

Haggar tossed a tongue into the cauldron and the smoke now turned to a magenta. Haggar popped up on Keith’s left side than his right side.

“ _ Come on, you poor unfortunate soul _

_ Go ahead! _

_ Make your choice!” _

Haggar returned to her side of the cauldron. Haggar waved his hand and a golden circle appeared, in the center was a projection of Lance’s head. Keith smiled and leaned in as the projection did.

“ _ I'm a very busy woman, and I haven't got all day _

_ It won't cost much. _

_ Just your voice! _ ”

The projection then disappeared and Keith jumped back as Haggar appeared. Haggar grabbed a small blue jellyfish and tossed it into the cauldron. It was as if she had this spell memorized. Keith flinched as the smoke turned blue and explosions came from the cauldron.

“ _ You poor unfortunate soul _

_ It's sad but true _ ”

Haggar then appeared beside Keith and wrapped a tentacle around his shoulder.

“ _ If you want to cross the bridge, my sweet, you've got the pay the toll _

_ Take a gulp and take a breath, and go ahead and sign the scroll _ ”

Haggar waved her hand a golden contract appeared with the terms of the agreement, along with a quill. Haggar then backed up as Sendak and Ladnock appeared with smiles.

“ _ Sendak, Ladnock, now I've got him, eels _

_ The boss is on a roll! _

_ THIS POOR UNFORTUNATE SOUL! _ ”

Keith squeezed his eyes and with a heavy heart signed his name at the bottom of the scroll. When the contract was signed, the contract flew to Haggar’s hand and disappeared. Hagar the smiled and waved her hands over the cauldron and started chanting the spell.

“ _ Beluga sevrgua, come winds of the Caspian Sea _ ”

A whirlpool started to form and grew until it surrounded Keith and the witch. The trio outside struggled to see what was happening inside.

“ _ Larynxes glossitis ad max Laryngitis la voce to me _ ”

Haggar grabbed the seashell necklace around her necklace and turned to Keith. Purple hands grew from the cauldron and Haggar pointed to Keith.

“Now sing!” she called out as the hands slowly moved towards the prince. Keith swallowed and started to sing. His voice glowed purple as it formed a ball in his throat. “Keep singing!” Haggar yelled as the hands drew closer to the prince. Keith pulled back as the purple hands became one and slipped down his throat, though he felt no pain.

The hand then pulled the purple orb out of his throat and slowly retreated back to the witch. Keith held a hand to his throat as he heard his voice echo and glow and then watched as it disappeared into the golden seashell. The whirlpool disappeared and s golden mass surrounded Keith.

Pain flared throughout his whole body as the witch laughed. His tail separated as soon one fin, became two pale human legs. The mass disappeared and the trio’s eyes widened as Keith struggled to swim and breathe. Pidge and Hunk quickly changed into their animal forms and helped Keith reach the surface. Slav followed, the echoes of the witches laughter sent shivers down their spines.

Soon they reached the surface and Keith gulped in oxygen. He weakly leaned his head against Pidge’s dolphin form as she and Hunk swam to shore. Slav crawled on top of Keith’s shoulder and encouraged the young prince to hold on.

* * *

 

Meanwhile, on the beach, Lance was leaning against a rock and playing his flute. Blue was running around happily as she listened to her master play. Lance was playing the same song that he had heard his savior sing when he rescued him from drowning, the song stuck in his head. Lance sighed as he stopped playing and lowered the flute

“That voice. I can't get it out of my head,” Lance turned to Blue who had returned to her masters' side as they continued to walk along the beach. “I've looked everywhere, Blue - where could he be?”

* * *

 

Hunk and Pidge had finally gotten Keith to the shore. The two laid against a rock in their mermaid forms as the action had exhausted them. The prince sat in the water and leaned against a rock. His black bangs fell in front of his face, with a hand Keith bushed his bangs out of his face and turned around so his back was against the rock, he knees pulled up out of the water as a result.

Keith’s eyes widened when he saw that he didn’t have a tail but two legs instead. He pulled one leg out of the water and studied his foot, his toes wiggled and his smile grew. He was human!

“Well, look at what the catfish dragged in!” Matt yelled as he flew over to the group, he landed on Keith’s leg which was balanced on top of his other leg. “Look at ya! Look at ya! There's something different. Don't tell me - I got it. It's your hairdo, right? You've been using the dinglehopper, right?” Keith gave Matt a smile but shook his head. “No? No huh, well let me see…” Keith started bouncing his leg up and down while Matt tried to figure out what was new. “I gotta admit I can't put my foot on it right now, but if I just stand here long enough I know that I'll -” Slav had finally had enough and yelled at Matt.

“HE'S GOT LEGS, YOU IDIOT! He traded his voice to the sea witch and got legs. Jeez, man . .“ Matt flew off Keith’s leg and landed beside his sister on the rock.

“I knew that,” Pidge rolled her eyes and sat up, as did Hunk.

“Keith's been turned into a human. He's gotta make the prince fall in love with him, and he's gotta ki- he's gotta kiss him,” Hunk said as Keith started to stand up.

Of course, with Keith never having legs before he was very wobbly. The group was lost in conversation as Slav started yelling.

“And he's only got three days,” Slav pointed out to the group, just as Keith toppled over and fell back into the water. The splash caused a wave to crash over the group as they turned to look at the fallen prince. Keith had sat back up, a strand of seaweed in his hair. Though the smile of having legs never left his face. “Just look at him. On legs. On human legs! My nerves are shot. This is a catastrophe! What would his father say?” Slav then turned to the group and yelled. “I'll tell you what his father would say, he'd say he's gonna kill himself a crab, that's what his father would say!”

Keith stood up again but manage to keep himself standing this time. He pulled the seaweed out of his hair. He turned to Slav with wide eyes at the crabs next words.

“I'm gonna march myself straight home right now and tell him just like I shoulda done the minute-,” Keith picked up the crab as Slav headed into the water and shook his head as the crab continued to ramble on. “. . . and don't you shake your head at me, young man” Keith stopped shaking as Slav scolded the prince.

“Maybe there's still time. If we could get that witch to give you back your voice, you could go home with all the normal fish, and just be . . . ,“ Keith’s face fell as his smile faded and a very sad look appeared on his face. The thought of leaving the human world now, after what he what went through to be here, depressed the young prince. He would be miserable at home. “just be . . . just be miserable for the rest of your life,” Slav sighed as he continued to stare at the prince’s fallen face.

Slav shook his head and sighed “all right, all right. I'll try to help you find that prince. Boy. What a soft-shell I'm turning out to be,” Slav commented as Keith patted his head and placed him back down on the rock. Matt flew over to where a pile of cloth sat.

“Now, Keith, I'm tellin' ya, if you wanna be a human the first thing you gotta do is dress like one. Now lemme see,” Pidge sighed as Matt dragged the fabric over. She pulled out a small pouch and ended up pulling out a pair of scissors, thread, and a needle.

“How about you let me see instead Matt since I’m the one who can actually make and sew something.”

* * *

 

Lance and Blue continued their walk along the beach. Lance was walking ahead of Blue as the dog stopped and started sniffing the air. Smelling a familiar scent, Blue started to bark and run ahead.

“Blue? Huh . . . what, Blue!” Lance yelled as Blue turned to bark at him and then ran ahead, following the scent. Lance running after her.

Pidge had ended sewing Keith a pair of capris and a shirt with no sleeves out of the cloth Matt found. Luckily, it fit Keith perfectly.

“Ya look great kid. Ya look - sensational” Matt commented just as Blue ran up, barking at Keith.

Hunk and Pidge hid in the water while Blue chased Slav. Slav then jumped into the pocket of Keith’s pants and hid in there, while Keith ran up the rock while Blue barked at him. Slav poked his head out but ducked down when Blue jumped up and licked Keith’s cheek, just as she’s done the night of the sinking.

“Blue . . . Blue,” Lance yelled as he ran into the area. Keith’s eyes widened and a smile grew on his face. Blue ran up to Lance and jumped on him, Lance grabbed her paws and held her up.”Quiet Blue! What's gotten into you girl?” Lance asked as he glanced up. He stopped his antics with the dog and his eyes widened. “Oh . . . Oh, I see” Lance said as Blue ran back over to Keith. “Are you okay., here? I'm sorry if this knucklehead scared you. He's harmless, really -” Lance commented as Blue tried to jump in between the two.

Keith continued to smile, Lance stared at the violet eyes, those eyes that seemed all so familiar. “-You . . . seem very familiar . . . to me. Have we met?” Keith nodded and Lance started to help hope rise in his chest. “We have met?” Keith nodded once more as Lance grabbed his pale hands and held them in his own tan hands. “I knew it! You're the one - the one I've been looking for! What's your name?” Keith went to say his name but his smile fell as he remembered that he couldn’t speak.

“What's wrong? What is it? You can't speak?” Keith shook his head sadly. Lance’s face fell “oh. Then you couldn't be who I thought,” Blue and Keith shared the same frustrated look. An idea popped into Keith’s head, he started to sign with his hands trying to show Lance that he was the one, even without words. However, Lance didn’t seem to be getting it.

“What is it? You're hurt? No, No . . . You need help,” as Keith continued to sign he ended up losing balance and falling off the rock. Luckily, Lance was there and caught the prince before he could fall. “Whoa, whoa, careful - careful - easy. Gee, you must have really been through something,” Keith nodded slowly and Lance smiled.

“Don't worry, I'll help you. Come on . . . come on, you'll be okay,” Lance said as he wrapped an arm around Keith’s waist and helped him walk on still wobbly legs towards the palace. Keith turned back to his friends who waved to him while Matt gave him a thumbs up. Blue barking all the way to the palace, despite Lance’s tries to get her to quiet down.


	5. Kiss The Boy

Once at the palace, Keith was handed over to a woman named Colleen. She reminded Keith a lot of Pidge, the same eyes, skin colour, and hair colour that was tied behind her head in a bun. She was dressed in a red dress with white sleeves that ended above her ankles, a white apron was wrapped around her waist, and black heels adorned her feet. Her jewelry was simple, she wore white stud earrings in her ears and a simple gold chain around her neck.

Keith had been taken to one of the bathrooms in the palace and Colleen had filled the tub with warm water. She had also taken the time to add bubbles, the tub filled with bubbles. Keith had been stripped of the clothing Pidge sewed him and shugged into the tub. Keith had been content with playing with the soap bubbles. 

"Washed up from a shipwreck. Oh, the poor thing,” Colleen commented as she poured a bucket of warm water over Keith’s head to wash away the soap. “We'll have you feeling better in no time,” she said giving Keith a kind smile and placed the bucket down, she picked up Keith’s clothes and stared at them as if she could tell they were made from a piece of an old sail.

“I'll just--I'll just get this washed for you,” she said heading out of the room while Keith continued to play with the bubbles. Unknown to her, Slav was inside the pants pocket still.

* * *

 

“Well, you must have at least heard about this guy,” one of the ladies doing laundry said. The other ladies shook their heads, Slav was then tossed into the laundry with the shirt and pants. 

“Well, Nyma says--.” One of the laundry ladies grabbed the pants and started to wash them against the washboard. The rest of the ladies sentence was tuned out under the water. When she pulled the pants out Slav burped and out popped a bubble which quickly popped.

”--Since when has Nyma got anything right. I mean really, this guy shows up in rags and doesn't speak.”

The pants were then tossed through the drying machine and Slav ended up being squished under the pressure, he popped out the other side and landed in the laundry bin. The same lady that washed the pants grabbed them and hung them on the clothes rack, Slav hid in the pocket as the line started to move.

“...Not my idea of a prince. If Lance looking for a spouse, I know a couple of highly available ones right here.”

As the line moved Slav jumped out of the pocket and jumped through a window. He landed on a table and groaned at the way he landed. He looked up and his eyes widened at the sight. A fish sat on a block of wood with a huge knife through it, pots boiled with tentacles falling out of one. What made him the most anxious was when he looked and saw crabs, dead, and stuffed with stuffing each crab had a toothpick with an olive poking out of it’s back.

At the sight, Slav ended up fainting.

* * *

 

Meanwhile, Lance and Coran were in the dining room. Waiting for Lance’s guest to appear and for dinner to be served. Coran was sitting at the table while Lance stared out the window.

“Oh, Lance, be reasonable. Nice young men just don't - swim around rescuing people in the middle of the ocean and then - flutter off into oblivion, like some -,” Lance turned to Coran, who was cleaning his pipe.

“I'm telling you, Coran, he was real! I'm gonna find that boy - and I'm gonna marry him,” Lance said as he turned back to the window. Colleen’s laughter from the hallway caught both men’s attention.

“Come on honey. Don't be shy.” Colleen pulled Keith into the dining room and Lance’s eyes widened. Keith was dressed in a pair of black pants, a purple shirt, a grey jacket with long sleeves, brown boots, and a brown belt around his waist.

“Oh, Lance, isn't he a vision?” Coran said as Keith walked towards the two. Keith blushed as he felt the prince’s eyes on him.

“You look - wonderful,” Keith smiled and Coran wrapped an arm around his shoulders.

“Come come, you must be famished. Let me help you, my boy,” Coran pulled Keith towards the table and sat him down in one of the chairs “there we go - ah - quite comfy?” Keith nodded and Lance pushed his chair in before sitting down at the table, as did Coran.

“Uh. It's - It's not often that we have such a lovely dinner guest, eh Lance?” Lance, however, had taken to staring at the boy. Keith’s eyes lit up when he saw the fork on the table. He remembered what Matt had said and picked it off the table. He started to run it through his hair and glanced up at the two, who just gave him a weird look. Keith quickly put the fork down and bit his lip, avoiding eye contact with the two.

Coran lit a match and started to light his pipe. Keith heard the match and glanced up, he smiled seeing the pipe. Coran caught his gaze and smiled at the boy.

“Uh, do you like it? It is rather - fine,” Coran handed Keith the pipe and the prince studied it. Before Coran could finish his sentence, Keith blew the pipe and smoke ended up blowing into Coran’s face. When the smoke cleared, Coran’s face had been darkened by the smoke. Lance and Colleen burst out laughing.

“Oh, my!” Colleen cried out as she handed Coran a napkin. Lance coughed and tried to cover his laughing.

“Ahem, so sorry Coran”. Colleen caught the smiled and handed over to the prince, whose smile was now gone.

“Why, Lance, that's the first time I've seen you smile in weeks,” Keith smiled, he was overjoyed knowing that he brought a much-needed smile to the prince.

“Oh, very amusing. Colleen, my dear, what's for dinner?” Coran asked as he wiped his face and set the napkin down, Colleen smiled.

“Oooh, you're gonna love it. Chef's been fixing his specialty, stuffed crab.”

* * *

 

Colleen soon returned with their dishes and Coran turned to Lance.

“You know, Lance, perhaps our young guest might enjoy seeing some of the sights of the kingdom. Something in the way of a tour?” Lance was still staring at the boy and turned to Coran with a smile.”

I'm sorry, Coran, what was that?” Coran gave Lance a look and sighed.

“You can't spend all your time moping about, you need to get out,” Coran lifted the lid off his plate and Keith’s eyes widened when he saw Slav on the plate. The crab gave him a look of help and Keith lifted the top of his plate and motioned for Slav to hurry over. “Do something, have a life,” Coran said just as Slav ran across the table and onto Keith’s plate. “Get your mind off -,” Lance chuckled.

“Easy, Coran, Easy,” Keith then lifted Slav off the plate and into his pant pocket. “It's not a bad idea. If he's interested. Well--,“ Lance turned to Keith who slammed the lid shut on his plate. “Whaddaya say? Would you like to join me on a tour of Arus tomorrow?” Keith nodded and Coran clapped his hands.

“Wonderful, now let's eat, before this crab wanders off my plate,” Coran went to stab his fork into the crab on his plate but his eyes widened when he saw that there was no crab on his plate.

* * *

 

Come evening, Colleen showed Keith his bedroom and he was given a pair of pajamas. The pajamas consisted of a pair of loose purple pants with a match long-sleeved pajama shirt. Keith was now standing on the balcony of his bedroom watched as Lance played with Blue.

“Come here girl!” Lance smiled as the energetic dog licked his face as he kneeled down. As if feeling eyes on him Lance slowly looked up towards Keith, smiled, and then waved. The prince jumped and his cheeks flushed, Keith shyly waved back and headed back into his room, closing the balcony door behind him.

Slav watched as the prince combed through his hair with the fork.

“This has got to be, without a doubt, the single most humiliating day of my life,” Keith set the fork down and patted Slav’s head and headed towards the bed. “I hope you appreciate what I go through for you, young man,” Keith went to sit on the bed and his eyes widened as he sank into the edge. “Now - we got to make a plan to get that boy to kiss you,” Keith smiled and jumped onto the bed, the bed bounced and the prince laid his head down on the pillow.

“Tomorrow, when he takes you for that ride, you gotta look your best. You gotta bat your eyes, like this,” Slav said as he batted his eyes like a girl. “You gotta pucker up your lips, like this,” Slav stopped talking and his eyes softened when he saw the young prince was fast asleep. It was times like this around Keith everyone cherished. When he was asleep, he was like the innocent child he was when he was younger.

Slav hummed and blew out the candle on the bedside, he jumped onto the bed and pushed Keith’s bangs out of his face. “Hm. You are hopeless child,” Slav then laid down on the pillow and yawned “you know that? Completely hopeless.”

* * *

 

Meanwhile, in Altea, Shiro was pacing back and forth. A seahorse swam up and Shiro turned.

“Any sign of them?”. The seahorse shook his head sadly.

“No, Your Majesty. We've searched everywhere. We've found no trace of your son, Slav, Hunk, or Pidge.” Shiro sighed and waved the seahorse away, his heart breaking when he heard the news.

“Well, keep looking. Leave no shell unturned, no coral unexplored. Let no one in this kingdom sleep until he's safe at home,” the seahorse nodded and bowed.

“Yes sire,” He swam out of the throne room and Shiro collapsed on the throne. 

“Oh, what have I done? What have I done?” Shiro asked himself as tears filled his eyes.

* * *

 

The next morning Colleen had helped Keith get dressed for the tour. She had dressed him in black pants, a blue blouse with the sleeves rolled to his elbows, brown boots, and a brown belt around his waist.

Keith and Lance were seated in the carriage, Slav sitting on Keith’s left side out of view. Colleen and Coran waved as the two left the palace and headed towards the town. Keith was pointing and smiling at things he’d never seen before. Lance smiled at the prince’s curiosity and turned to talk to him. However, what he found was the prince upside staring under the carriage at the horse’s hooves.

As they went over a bridge, Hunk in his fish form was jumping up to see.

“Has he kissed her yet?” Slav shook his head and yelled back to Hunk.

“Not yet,” Hunk’s face fell.

“Ohh . . . “

Lance helped Keith out of the carriage once they stopped in town. Keith watched with amazement as cages holding chickens and other animals passed by. He turned and saw a puppet show going on. One puppet was hitting another with a club. Keith grabbed the puppet in wonder and was surprised to find a hand was controlling the puppet. Lance handed the puppet back and soon found himself being dragged to where the music was playing.

Lance smiled and grabbed Keith around the waist and the two started a dance, while other couples danced around them. Lance spun Keith around in the air and after the dance ended, heading back to the carriage. Along the way, Lance bought them bread, Keith a red hat, a pair of brown boots, and a bouquet of flowers.

“Yo, Pidge! Any kissing?” Pidge shook her head.

“No, not yet,” Matt pouted and sighed.

“Hmm. Well they - they better get cracking,” Pidge nodded in agreement. The two exited the town and Lance turned to Keith, the horse’s reins in his hands.

“Do you want to drive?” Lance asked. Keith nodded and tossed the gifts into Lance’s arms and took the reigns from his hands.

Keith snapped the reigns and the horses took off running, the carriage being dragged behind it. A branch ended up hitting Lance in the face, the leaves exploding in his face. Lance shook the leaves off and his eyes traveled up. Ahead of them was a ravine, the gap between the two was fairly wide. Lance’s eyes widened as Keith made no plan to stop.

Lance closed his eyes as he felt the horses and the carriage left one side and flew in the air. He grunted when the carriage landed safely on the other side. Lance sat back up straight and Keith pulled on the reigns to slow the horses down. Lance turned to the prince and upon seeing the smile still present on his face, he leaned back and allowed Keith to be in charge of the horses.

* * *

 

At one point during their ride, Lance had taken back the horses and directed them towards a small dock. The two climbed out of the carriage and headed to the dock where a wooden boat sat. Lance climbed in first and then turned to help Keith in. The prince almost fell, but Lance helped him sit down without falling.

Once the two were seated, Lance started to row the boat away from the dock.

“Move over--move your big feathers. I can't see a thing,” Hunk said sending a glare to Matt who was blocking his view. Currently, Pidge, Hunk, and Matt were hiding behind some tall grass out of the water, watching as Lance rowed the boat around. Matt groaned.

“Nothing is happening. . . . Only one day left, and that boy ain't puckered up once”.

Keith sent a smile to Lance but in the back of his head, he couldn’t help but worry. Tomorrow was his last day to get Lance to kiss him, and now the sun was starting to set on the second day. Matt turned to Hunk and Pidge.

“O.K. All right, this calls for a little vocal romantic stimulation,” Matt took flight and landed on a branch with some little blue birds who watching the couple in the boat. “Stand back,” he said as he landed, the bluebirds flying away.

Matt, while he was a very good friend, he wasn’t a very good singer. As he started to coon as Lance and Keith floated past underneath the branch, Lance winced as he heard the very bad singing.

“Wow. Somebody should find that poor animal and put it out of its misery,” Matt didn’t hear his comment and continued singing. Keith grimaced at the ‘singing’ and facepalmed as Matt sent him a wink. Slav covered his ‘ears’ and climbed onto the edge of the boat.

“Jeez, man, I'm surrounded by amateurs!” Slav whined as he jumped off the boat and into the water. He dove down and plucked a piece of underwater grass.

“You want something done, you've got to do it yourself,” he muttered to himself and resurfaced. Three ducks and three turtles swam by and when Slav surfaced they stopped and turned to the small crab with a conductor's stick. “First, we got to create the mood,” Slav said, the turtles then flipped on their shells and the ducks raised their wings.

“ _ Percussion _ ” Slav whispered and the ducks started to play on the turtles' stomachs.

“ _ Strings _ ” Slav said as grasshoppers started to rub their hind legs together.

“ _ Winds _ ” Slav said as hollow grass broke in half and wind started to blow through.

“ _ Words _ “ Slav said finally as he started to sing.

Matt had been grabbed by Pidge and Hunk as Slav started to sing, the bird finally quieting down. Slav leaned in from a reed, towards the boat as it floated by. Lance was staring at Keith as the prince glanced around.

“ _T_ _ here you see him _

_ Sitting there across the way _

_ He don't got a lot to say _

_ But there's something about him _ ”

Lance’s head rose as he realized something was still fairly familiar about the boy. He also realized that in the back of his head, a voice was telling him to forget his mysterious saviour that didn’t want to be found, and go for the boy in front of him. Keith turned his head towards the prince with a smile on his face, the smile faded when he saw Slav leaning in towards the prince.

“ _ And you don't know why _

_ But you're dying to try _

_ You wanna kiss the boy _ ”

Lance turned his head as Slav whispered in his ear and then disappeared out of sight.

“Did you hear something?” Lance asked Keith, the prince just shrugged his shoulders and sent a smile towards Lance.

“ _ Yes, you want him _

_ Look at him, you know you do _ ”

Lance turned back towards Keith who was playing with the knees of his pants. Keith felt eyes on him and glanced up, his cheeks growing faint pink as he realized the prince was staring at him.

“ _ Possible he wants you too _

_ There is one way to ask him _

_ It don't take a word _

_ Not a single word _

_ Go on and kiss the boy _ ”

Lance and Keith leaned in, but Lance pulled back and started rowing again. Keith sighed and glanced away as Lance’s head was looking over his shoulder to direct the boat where he wanted it to go.

“ _ Sing with me, now _ ”

Slav poked his head under the water and motioned to the creatures underneath. As Lance lifted the oars, frogs were stationed on each oar s they sang along. Keith had his chin in his hand and looked very unimpressed and annoyed.

“ _ Sha-la-la-la-la-la _

_ My, oh, my! _

_ Look like the boy too shy _

_ Ain't gonna kiss the boy _

_ Sha-la-la-la-la-la _

_ Ain't that sad? _

_ Ain't it a shame? _

_ Too bad _

_ He gonna miss the boy _ ”

Lance stopped rowing and turned to Keith.

“You know I feel really bad not knowing your name,” Lance said with a chuckle as he grabbed Keith’s attention. Lance leaned back and let go of the oars. The boat still moving on its own. “Maybe I could guess. Is it Steven? “ Keith made a face and Lance laughed.  “Okay no. how about Jeremy?” Keith shook his head as Lance kept trying to guess, but coming anywhere close. “Josh?” Keith glared and looked away. Pidge had finally had enough of his guessing and swam up next to the boat.

“Keith, his name is Keith,” Lance glanced around, but Pidge was already out of sight.

“Keith?” Lance whispered, Keith heard it and his eyes lit up. He nodded and grabbed Lance’s hand gently in confirmation. “Keith!?” Keith nodded again and Lance smiled. “Well that’s kind of unique, it suits you,” Keith blushed and smiled. “Okay, Keith.”

“ _ Now's your moment(ya, ya, ya) _

_ Floating in the blue lagoon(ya, ya, ya) _ ”

As the boat continued to float along, it ended up taking the two towards some blue willows. Two birds flew down and parted the willows like a curtain, the boat floating in and the willows closing in after them.

“ _ Boy, you better do it soon _

_ No time will be better (Ya, ya, ya, ya, ya) _

_ He don't say a word _

_ And he won't say a word _

_ Until ya kiss the boy _ ”

Slav dove under the water and motioned for the creatures in the lagoon to join in. Several colourful fish swam up and circled around the boat, the current causing the boat the spin. Lance and Keith didn’t notice, they were lost in their own bubble.

“ _ Sha-la-la-la-la-la _

_ Don't be scared (sha-la-la-la-la-la) _

_ You got the mood prepared _

_ Go on and kiss the boy (whoa, whoa) _

As the boat spun, the fish swam, and fireflies flew around them, it created a perfect mood. Pidge and Hunk watched from the sidelines with smiles on their faces.

“ _ Sha-la-la-la-la-la _

_ Don't stop now _

_ Don't try to hide it how _

_ You wanna kiss the boy (whoa, whoa) _ ”

Fish popped out of birds beaks as they sang the backtracks. Keith made a mental note to thank Slav later.

“ _ Sha-la-la-la-la-la _

_ Float along _

_ And listen to the song (WA WA WA WA LAAAA!!) _

_ Song say kiss the boy (whoa, whoa) _ ”

As flamingos danced, Matt flew down and started singing again, the flamingos grabbed his beak and shoved him under the water with glares. They then continued to sing as Matt turned into his mermaid form and swam up beside Pidge with a pout. Pidge gave her brother a smiled and then turned back to the magical scene.

“ _ Sha-la-la-la-la-la _

_ Music play _

_ Do what the music say _

_ You gotta kiss the boy _ ”

Small fish popped out of the water and laid on their backs as they swam around. Hunk, in fish form, had joined the circle as they spewed water out of their mouths like a fountain. Pidge rolled her eyes as Hunk rejoined them as they finished.

“ _ Kiss the boy _ ”

Keith and Lance stared into each other's eyes and shared twin smiles. The animals and friends were leaning in to see if they would kiss.

“ _ Kiss the boy _ ”

The animals were whispering “kiss him” over and over. As if listening to them, the two started to lean in closer.

“ _ Kiss the boy _ ”

The two were getting closer now. Unknown to everyone, underneath the boat, Sendak and Ladnock were waiting underneath. They were waiting for orders from Haggar to strike.

“ _ Go on and kiss the boy _ ”

Keith and Lance continued to lean in until they were almost kissing, their eyes closed as the last line of the song played. They almost kissed when suddenly the boat was overturned. Both males eyes widened as they splashed into the water. The animals quickly left with the commotion and Lance helped Keith stand up.

“Whoa, hang on - I've gotcha,” Lance laughed as he and Keith stood up. Out of view, Sendak and Ladnock wrapped tails and laughed.

* * *

 

Back at Haggar’s lair, she was glaring at the floating bubble image of the pair as they stood out of the water.

“Nice work, boys. That was a close one. Too close,” Haggar growled and ran angry fingers through her hair. “The little player! Oh, he's better than I thought,” Haggar said as he stood up off the couch she was sitting on.

She swam up to her cupboards and searched for what she needed. “At this rate, he'll be kissing him by sunset for sure,” she yelled as she threw bottles and jars off the shelves. She pulled out two bottles and a glass ball with a butterfly in it. “Well, it's time Haggar took matters into her own tentacles!” she yelled as she threw the ingredients into her cauldron.

“Shiro’s son will be mine-” Haggar said as she grabbed the golden seashell around her neck in her hands “-and then I'll make him writhe”. “I'll see him wriggle like a worm on a hook!” golden orbs flew up and surrounded Haggar as she pushed herself off the ground.

She laughed as she started to change. She changed into a man with light tan skin, brown hair that fell to her shoulders, and had yellow eyes. Her voice grew deeper as she used Keith’s voice to mask her own.

With a change of plans, Haggar formed a new plan as she swam to the surface, using her magic to keep her breath until she reached the beach.


	6. Let’s Crash A Wedding

In the evening it had gotten cold. Lance had changed into black pants, a white shirt with blue sleeves, brown boots, a red belt around his waist, and a black cape. In his hands was his flute, though he knew he had fallen for Keith, he couldn’t help but think of the boy who saved him. He still couldn’t get the voice out of his head, which was evident when Lance was playing the tune again.

As Lance finished, Coran walked up beside him, Lance turned and gave the man a smile.

“Lance if I may say, far better than any dream boy, is one of flesh and blood,” Coran’s eyes glanced up towards Keith’s room and smiled. “One warm and caring, and right before your eyes,” with his words spoken, Coran walked off leaving the prince alone.

Lance glanced up towards Keith’s room and saw the boy he almost kissed in the lagoon. Keith was in his pajamas and combing his hair once more with the fork. Keith had been staring out at the stars, but turned around and headed to bed as he finished combing his hair. Lance smiled and then sighed. He gripped his flute and made an important decision. He decided that he was indeed going to forget the dream boy and follow his feelings for Keith.

Lance swung his arm back and then swung it forwards. The flute whistling as it flew towards the ocean. Lance glanced up towards Keith’s windows and seeing the light still on, headed towards the door that led to that section of the palace. However, as he turned Lance’s ears picked up a familiar tune.

He froze in step and turned back to the beach. The singing so familiar. As Lance heard more, he recognized the singing as the same song that the boy who saved him sang, and the same voice to. Lane headed to the edge of the balcony and glanced over seeing a man with a purple cape in the darkness. A seashell around his neck as he sang, Lance soon became lost in the song and soon fell prisoner to the spell.

His blue eyes glowed yellow as the spell traveled up and instead of black irises turning golden instead of black. The prince was now under Haggar’s control.

* * *

 

The next morning, Matt was flying towards Keith’s room. Luckily the prince’s balcony doors were open and allowed Matt to fly in.

“Keith! Keith, wake up!” Matt yelled as he woke up the sleeping prince and the crab next to Keith on the pillow. “Wake up! I just heard the news,” Keith rubbed his eyes and sat up, Matt grabbed his hand and shook it. “Congratulations, kiddo, we did it!” Matt yelled as Slav woke up with the yelling.

“What is this idiot babbling about?” Matt smiled.

“Right - as if you two didn't know, uh? The whole town's buzzing about the prince getting himself hitched this afternoon!” Keith and Slav stared at Matt in confusion, not understanding the term. “You know, he's getting married!” Keith’s eyes widened and a smile grew on his face. “I just wanted to wish you luck. I'll catch you later, I wouldn't miss it!” Matt yelled as he flew out of the room and back to find Hunk and Pidge.

Keith quickly jumped out of bed and ran his fingers through his hair. Without another thought, the prince ran out of the room and down the hallway, Slav following with a groan. Though he was just as excited as Keith. Okay, maybe not that much.

Keith ran down the stairs, trying not to trip over his pajama pants.

“Well, uh - err, Lance. I-it appears that I was mistaken,” Keith heard Coran say as he almost started down the second set of stairs. Keith quickly hid behind a pillar on the stairs and watched. “This mystery boy of yours does - in fact, exist,” Keith shook his head as he saw a man beside Lance.

The man had lightly tanned skin and brown hair that fell to his shoulders. He was dressed in a pair of black pants, a purple shirt, a grey vest with the sleeves rolled to his elbows and brown boots. From what Keith could see, the man’s eyes were yellow. The man’s right hand was on Lance’s chest and the other arm was wrapped around Lance’s waist. Lance was dressed in his prince get up, something that was unusual for him.

“And - and he is wonderful. Congratulations, my boy,” Coran said shaking the man’s hand. Keith hid behind the pillar, he could feel his heart breaking. Today was his last day, by the setting sun he would be a mermaid again and belong to Haggar.

“We wish to be married as soon as possible,” Lance said and Keith felt his heart break even more.

“Oh, yes - of course, Lance, but, er - but these things do take time, you know,” Slav had just arrived and he climbed up to Keith’s shoulder to see what was wrong.

“This afternoon, Coran. The wedding ship departs at sunset,” Slav’s eyes widened as tears fell down from Keith’s eyes and down his cheeks.

“Oh, oh - very well, Lance - as you wish,” Coran said with a sigh. Keith couldn’t take it anymore and took off to his room. Slav holding on as best he could. Haggar looked up to see Keith running off, she grabbed the shell around her neck and quietly laughed to herself, the shell glowing slightly.

* * *

 

Come sunset, the wedding ship was indeed taking off. The guests were on board, as were the groom and bride to be. Keith pushed himself off the pole he was leaning on and sighed. He had refused to get on the ship, he didn't think his heart would have handled it. He had changed into the outfit he wore on the day he went to the town with Lance, though he kept the boots off.

Keith slid down the pole and hid his face in his knees. His shoulder shaking as he cried. Hunk and Pidge appeared out of the water, they had heard what had happened and rushed to the prince’s aid. Their hearts hurt as they watched Keith cry, Hunk slowly started crying as well.

Slave appeared next to Keith and sat sadly by the prince’s side. At some point, even Pidge had started crying, something she hadn’t done since her mother died. Keith glanced up and a single tear rolled down his cheek and fell into the water.

* * *

 

Matt was flying through the air. He was humming to himself as he flew. As he flew, his ears picked up familiar singing.

“ _ What a lovely little bride I'll make _

_ My dear, I'll look divine! _ ”

Matt flew towards the window where the singing was the loudest. He peaked in the window as he heard laughing. There he saw the same man Lance was to marry. He was dressed in a pair of white pants, a white shirt with no sleeves, and grey boots.

“ _ Things are working out according to my ultimate design! _ ”

The man laughed again as he turned to Matt, pulled out a bobby pin and threw it at the mirror. The pin landed in the head of the mirror and the mirror tilted back. At this view, Matt caught sight a golden seashell necklace around his neck. The shell glowing slightly.

“ _ Soon I'll have that little merman, _

_ And the ocean will be mine! _ ”

The man then stood up on to the vanity and broke a perfume bottle with his boot. Matt gulped as the man spun around and then turned to the mirror laughing as he pulled it towards him. The reflection, however, was not his one. But someone that needed to be taken care of.

“The sea witch! Oh no . . . She's- I gotta,” Matt started panicking and hit his head on the edge of the window. With his conscious clear, Matt started flying to find Keith. “Keith!” Matt yelled as he caught sight of the group. “Keith!” Matt yelled grabbing the groups attention. Matt landed beside Keith who had his legs hanging on the edge of the dock. ”Keith. I was flying, I wa - of course I was flying--,“ Matt said as he babbled on.

“An' - I s- I saw that the watch - the witch was watchin' a mirror, and she was singin' with a stolen set o' pipes,” the group was giving Matt a strange look. Keith shook his head, not really understanding. “Do you hear what I'm tellin' you? THE PRINCE IS MARRYING THE SEA WITCH IN DISGUISE!” Matt yelled as he grabbed Slav and shook the crab.  Pidge looked up at her brother.

“Are you sure about this?” Matt nodded furiously.

“Have I ever been wrong?”. Hunk went to open his mouth but Matt interrupted. “I mean when it's important!” Pidge sighed but nodded.

“What are we gonna do!?” Hunk asked turning to the group for an answer.

Keith stood up and walked to the edge of the dock, he glanced at the ship and then at the sun.

“Before the sun sets on the third day,” Keith heard Haggar’s voice repeat in his head. Keith glanced around and then seeing no other way dove into the water. Keith popped back up and waved his arms, not used to swimming without the help of his tail.

Slav paced in a panicked mode, and seeing barrels tied down with rope, he had an idea. He snapped the rope and the barrels came tumbling down into the water. One of the barrels had a rope around it with a loop at the end of the rope.

“Keith, grab onto that,” Slav instructed the prince who for once, did as he was told. “Hunk, get him to that boat as fast as your fins can carry you!” Hunk turned into his fish form and swam through the loop. “I'll try,” Slav turned to Pidge “Pidge go with them, take shifts with Hunk,” Pidge nodded and turned into her dolphin form. The trio swam off towards the boat.

“I've gotta get to the sea king. He must know about this,” Matt turned to Slav.

“What - What about me? What about ME?” Matt asked wanting to help. Slav turned to Matt 

“You - find a way to STALL THAT WEDDING!” Slav yelled as he jumped into the water and started swimming as fast as he could towards Altea.

“Stall the wedding. Wh- what am I - what - that's it!” Matt took off flying towards the lagoon, making the noise that a bird in help makes. The birds and creatures heard and started following him. “Move it, let's go, we got an emergency here!” Matt yelled as dolphins and seals also arrived. The large group started making their way to the wedding ship.

* * *

 

Back on the wedding ship, Lance and Haggar were walking down the aisle. Haggar was dressed in a pair of white pants, a white shirt, grey boots, a grey jacket with a tailcoat, and silver epaulets on her shoulders. Her hair was tied in a ponytail.

The guests on either side of the aisle bowed their heads in respect as the couple to be walked down the aisle. Blue growled from where Coran was holding her, she did not like the man before her at all. Haggar gave her a glare and kicked her nose with the heel of her boots. Blue yelped and back away, but still growled as Haggar walked past.

They finally reached the priest and stopped before him. The priest was a short old man with glasses on his wrinkled face.

“Dearly beloved . . .”

* * *

 

Hunk panted as he pulled the barrel with Keith holding on.

“Don't worry Keith. ugh - we - we're gonna make it. We're almost there,” Pidge noticed her friend was tired and swam up beside him.

“Hunk switch with me, take a break out of fish form,” Hunk nodded and turned to merman form and helped Pidge through the loop.

* * *

 

“Yes, um, do you, Lance, take Jeremy to be your lawfully wedded husband, for as long as you both shall live?” Hagar turned and a smile grew on her face as the sun was beginning to set, her plan was almost complete. Lance, still under the spell nodded slowly.

“I do,” the priest then turned to Haggar/Jeremy.

“Eh, and do you Jeremy…,” Haggar tuned out what the priest was saying as she heard birds squawking in the distance. A group of bluebirds dove down and Haggar had to duck before they knocked her over. Matt led the charge back and the dove between her legs, the wind almost knocking her off balance.

( **A/N: Keep in mind, for this next scene, Haggar is still in her male form as Jeremy. Enjoy!** )

Blue barked happily at the chaos. Guests ran everywhere as the birds flew around. On one side of the ship, seals hopped on board and started flopping around. Haggar turned and yelped as pelicans dropped water on her. Of course, it sounded deeper, due to her having Keith’s voice.

One pelican had a lobster in his mouth and it fell on Haggar’s head. The lobster then pinched Haggar’s nose, a scream tearing out of her mouth from the pain. Silencing her, a group of starfish stuck to her and one landed on her mouth. Lance, of course, was unaware of what was happening, due to the spell.

“...then by the power inves-,” Haggar pulled the starfish off and threw them down.

“Get away from me you slimy little-,” before she could finish Haggar found herself being tossed up and down by a seal.

* * *

 

The trio had finally reached the boat and Keith started to climb one of the still oars. Pidge and Hunk watched with smiles on their faces.

“Go get your prince Keith!” Pidge yelled as she high fived a very tired Hunk.

“You really are a guppy aren’t you?” Hunk pouted.

“I’m not a guppy.”

* * *

 

Haggar found herself being tossed up and down by the seals. Eventually, one seal tossed her off and she landed into the large wedding cake.

Keith had reached the railing and his eyes widened seeing the chaos that had gone on. He made a mental note to thank Matt later. He climbed over the railing and watched as Haggar stood up out of the mess of wedding cake. The cake on her head as she growled in anger.

Haggar turned as she heard the sound of dolphins. As she turned she was splashed with water, the cake now off her, but she was drenched. The wedding suits jacket and epaulets were torn off during the chaos.

Matt landed in front of her face and squawked in her face. Her hair drying but now out of its ponytail.

“Oh, why you little-,” Haggar yelled as she grabbed Matt around the neck and shook him in anger.

Coran struggled to keep Blue on her leash. She eventually broke free and ran towards Haggar. With an evil smile, Blue bit Haggar on the butt, hard. Haggar had been distracted while trying to get Matt to let go of her necklace. She screamed and the necklace broke off its rope and flew in the air.

The shell broke in front of Keith and golden orbs flew up. With the shell broken, the spell wore off of Lance. He shook his head and tried to make sense of where he was. Everyone turned and watched with wide eyes as Keith’s harmonizing voice traveled up and back into Keith. Haggar growled as her plan was failing.

“Keith?” Lance asked as Keith held a hand to his throat. He missed the feeling of having his voice.

“Lance,” Keith said with a relieved sigh as Blue ran up to him and started barking.

“You - you can talk,” Lance said in amazement as he approached Keith and grabbed his hands. “You're the one,” Haggar growled.

“Lance, get away from him!” Haggar’s eyes widened as her regular voice came out and she held a hand to her throat.

“It - it was you all the time, I should have recognized that mullet anywhere,” Keith let the hair comment slide and smiled at Lance.

“Oh, Lance, I - I wanted to tell you,” the two leaned in to kiss.

“LANCE NO!” Haggar yelled despite the fact that her voice was her normal voice.

However, before they could kiss, the sunset. Keith gasped in pain as he felt his legs becoming one again. His pants and shirt were now off as he collapsed to the floor, his red tail in plain view. Lance’s eyes widened as Haggar began laughing.

“You're too late! You're too late!” lightning lashed and soon Haggar shifted out of her male disguise and back into herself.

The guests gasped and moved out of the way as Haggar crawled her way over to Keith. She grabbed the prince’s arm and pulled him onto her lap, wrapping an arm around his neck.

“So long, loverboy,” Haggar said as she dove into the water, dragging Keith with her.

“Keith!” Lance yelled trying to grab the prince.

* * *

 

When they crashed into the water, Sendak and Ladnock had been waiting. Haggar swam through the water, Keith’s wrist in a strong grip as she pulled him along.

“Poor little prince - it's not you I'm after,” Haggar said as Keith tried to free his wrist. “I've a much bigger fish to -,” before she could finish a golden glowing trident stopped her path.

“Haggar stop!” Shiro yelled as he glared at the witch, Slav on the ground beside him.

“Why, King Siro! Ha ha ha - How are you?” Haggar said eyeing the king and tracing her finger on the edge of the trident.

“Let him go,” Shiro growled as he pointed his trident closer to the witch. Haggar glared and pulled the struggling prince closer to her

“Not a chance, Shiro! He's mine now,” Haggar pushed Keith back with her tentacle and his arms became wrapped in Sendak and Ladnock’s tails. “We made a deal,” Haggar said with a smirk as she pulled out the glowing golden contract Keith had signed and unrolled it in front of his father. 

“Dad, I'm sorry! I - I - I didn't mean to. I didn't know -,” Keith said as he saw his father grow angry. Shiro raised his trident and struck the contract with a blast. Haggar hid behind it and she was thrown back to a rock. She laughed as the contract remained intact, not a scratch on it.

“You see? The contract's legal, binding and completely unbreakable - even for you,” Shiro’s eyes widened as he gave Haggar a fierce glare. Haggar swam behind Shiro and popped up on his right side “of course, I always was a girl with an eye for a bargain. The child of the great sea king is a very precious commodity,” Haggar said as the contract flew past them and swam around Keith. A golden whirlpool surrounded the prince as Sendak and Ladnock released his arms.

Keith shrunk a little bit, he could feel himself slowly turning into one of the polyps Haggar had in her garden. Shiro went to grab his son but Haggar held an arm in front of him with a sickening smile.

“But - I might be willing to make an exchange for someone even better.”

* * *

 

Back above, Lance had shed his jacket and loaded into a rowboat, he started rowing to where an appropriate spot was.

“Lance! What are you doing?” Coran yelled from the deck, Colleen looking just as worried for the prince as he was.

“Coran, I lost him once. I'm not going to lose him again,” Lance then turned to Coran. “Get the ship away from here, get everyone back to the kingdom!” he yelled. Coran sighed but nodded and turned to the captain of the ship to head back to the kingdom.

* * *

 

Time was running out for Keith, he was smaller than before, and he was starting to turn that ugly colour the polyps were.

“Now! Do we have a deal?” Haggar asked as she held the contract out with a tentacle. Shiro stared at Keith before closing his eyes and turning his head, he held his trident out and replaced Keith’s name with his own.

“Ha! It's done then,” Haggar yelled as the whirlpool spun Keith around and he returned back to normal. The whirlpool then surrounded Shiro and spun him around until he had turned into a polyp. His crown falling around him and his trident on the ground beside him.

“No!” Keith yelled as Haggar laughed.

* * *

 

Lance stopped rowing when he saw golden light emitting from the water. He stood up in the rocking boat, the waves were becoming strong. He grabbed the harpoon he had loaded in the boat and took a deep breath before jumping in.

* * *

 

Slav glanced at the king and bowed his head “oh, your majesty,” Keith stared at his father with guilt. If he hadn’t made the deal in the first place, they wouldn’t be here now. “Daddy? . . .” Keith whimpered out as he kneeled beside his father. Haggar laughed as she picked up the crown and placed it on her head.

“At last, it's mine,” Haggar then picked up the trident which began to glow golden. Her laughter continuing.

Keith glanced up from his father and glared up at the witch. He could feel anger pooling in him and he swam towards the witch, trying to grab the trident from her hands.

“You - You monster!” Haggar growled and grabbed Keith with her tentacles and tossed him against the rock. Keith grunted as his back harshly hit the rock. He glared up at the witch but his glare faded when she pointed the glowing trident towards him.

“Don't fool with me you little brat! Contract or no- AAAAHH!” Before she could finish a harpoon grazed her arm and landed in the rock beside Keith. Both turned and Keith’s eyes widened seeing Lance. “Why you little troll!” Haggar growled and she pinned Keith down with a few of her tentacles.

“Lance! Lance look out!” Keith yelled as Haggar turned to Sendak and Ladnock.

“After him!” she yelled as Lance started swimming back to the boat.

* * *

 

Lance breached the surface and grabbed on to the edge of the boat, gasping for air. He went to pull himself up but found himself tugged back down into the water by the two eels. Sendak had wrapped himself around his chest and arms, while Ladnock had wrapped herself around his legs Lance struggled to breathe and free himself as the eels held him in the water.

Slav turned to Hunk who had joined the fight with Pidge.

“Come on you two!” he yelled as Hunk and Pidge turned into their fish and dolphin forms. Slav pinched Ladnock’s tail, while Hunk and Pidge used their tails and flapped them in Sendak’s face.

The two eels let go and glared at the trio as Lance started to weakly swim to the surface. Haggar turned to Keith with a smile.

“Say goodbye to your sweetheart,” she said as she pointed the trident towards Lance. Keith glared at her and yanked her hair pulling her body away from Lance and towards the two eels. Instead of hitting Lance Haggar ended up striking the two eels. Sendak and Ladnock exploded into pieces.

Haggar’s eyes widened as she realized her minions were no longer. Anger filled her as Keith sped past her and followed Lance to the surface. Haggar started to release clouds of ink. Slav, Hunk, and Pidge hid as they watched Haggar grow with the power of the trident.

* * *

 

Keith surface and helped Lance afloat while catching his breath.

“Lance, you've got to get away from here,” Lance shook his head.

“No way am I leaving you alone with that sea witch,” Lance said firmly. Between them, bubbles appeared and then a spike of the crown separated the two. The two found themselves being raised out of the water as Haggar grew bigger and bigger.

Keith grabbed Lance’s hand and they jumped off back into the water as Haggar continued to grow.

“You pitiful, insignificant, fool!” Haggar yelled as she stopped growing.

“Look out!” Lance yelled as one of Haggar’s tentacles started to fall down towards them. The two dived out of the way as the tentacle crashed into the water.

“Now I am the ruler of all the ocean!” Haggar yelled as a storm was created. Lightning flashed and it started to rain hard. “The waves obey my every whim!” the waves grew large and ferocious, a giant wave swept towards Keith and Lance. The two found themselves separated as Lance was tossed away and crashed into the water.

“The sea and all its spoils bow to my power!” Haggar tilted the trident down and spun it in a circle, the power created a whirlpool. The whirlpool spun down until it reached the ocean floor, to where a graveyard of ships sat. The current lifted the ships off the floor and they soon started spinning with the whirlpool.

Keith jumped out of the way as he avoided a raising ship, he climbed onto a rock and watched as the ships spun around. Lance had popped out of the water and turned as a ship was heading his way. He ended up getting pushed down underneath the ship.

“Lance!” Keith yelled as he watched the prince go under.

Lance had some luck as he grabbed onto a rope and climbed up onto the deck of the ship.

Haggar turned and saw Keith hanging onto the rock, the wind making it hard for Keith to see through the falling rain. She struck the rock with the trident and the rock broke. Keith ended up falling into the whirlpool.

Lance ran on the slippery deck, slipping a few times. He was almost to the wheel until a wave crashed over the side and knocked him off his feet.

Keith groaned as he raised himself to his knees. He glanced up at Haggar and his eyes widened as she started to aim the trident at him. He jumped away each time, barely missing the strikes she was sending his way.

Lance finally reached the wheel and gripped the wood tight. He glared at Haggar as he steered the ship towards her. The end of the ship had broken off and became pointed.

Haggar’s smile grew as Keith was running out of energy from not being in the water. Haggar laughed as she raised the trident one last time, unaware that the ship was coming closer.

“So much for true love!” she yelled. Keith’s eyes widened as the trident glowed, ready to fire.

Haggar turned and her eyes widened when she saw the ship coming towards her. However, it was to late. The sharp point pierced through her and she screamed in pain. Lightning struck the witch as she started to go down with the ship. Lance found himself knocked into the water as Haggar’s tentacles grabbed onto the sinking ship as her life faded.

Purple smoke raised into the air as Haggar started to dissolve into sea foam.

Lance reached the beach and collapsed in exhaustion. His boots were off and his pants were ripped to his knees. Keith had swum to shore as the battle was over and the sea returned to normal. He was worried about Lance and that was the only thought crossing his mind as he swam to shore.


	7. Part of Your World

Pieces of Haggar’s tentacles fell down that didn’t dissolve into the sea foam and landed on the ocean floor. With Haggar gone, all of the polyps in her garden had turned back into merfolk. They swam out of her lair and back to Altea to find their families.

The trident landed beside Shiro and he turned back into a merman. He gave Slav a smile as the two headed to the surface. Shiro, somehow knowing, that Keith would be there.

* * *

Keith sat on a rock as he watched Lance turn over, unconscious from his exhaustion. The sea was calm, the storm had gone and a sunrise was setting the mood.

Unknown to Keith, his father, Slav, Hunk and Pidge, and Matt were in the water a few feet away from him. Shiro watched Keith as his son watched the unconscious prince in concern. Slav glanced up at the king as Shiro spoke softly.

“He really does love him, doesn't he, Slav?” Slav smiled.

“Well, it's like I always say, Your Majesty. Children got to be free to lead their own lives,” Shiro turned to Slav with a look and a smile.

“You - always say that?” Slav gave a nervous chuckle while Hunk and Pidge rolled their eyes. Shiro sighed and turned back to Keith “then I guess there's just one problem left,” the group turned to the king.

“And what's that, Your Majesty?” Pidge asked from Shiro’s left side.

“How much I'm going to miss him,” the group's eyes widened as Shiro placed his trident down into the water and the trident glowed. Magic flowed through the water and towards the rock where Keith was staring at Lance.

Keith felt tingling in his tail and glanced down, his tail was glowing from the magic and he glanced up with a smile to his father and friends. The group watched as Keith dove into the water and swam towards the beach.

“ _Now we can walk!_

_Now we can run!_

_Now we can stay all day in the sun!_ ”

Lance had started to wake up and sat up rubbing his head. His eyes widened as he heard familiar singing and as he saw Keith rising out of the water, dressed in a pair of white pants and a light red blouse. Better than that, he had legs! Lance stood up and without warning ran towards the prince and spun him around in his arms. Water splashing up at the action. Keith smiled as Lance placed him down.

“I thought I’d never see your mullet again” Lance teased. Keith rolled his eyes and wrapped his arms around Lance’s neck “shut up and kiss me” Lance did just that.

* * *

 “I now pronounce you husband and husband,” the priest said as the couple shared a kiss and the crowd cheered. Blue jumped up between them and the couple laughed as Blue licked their cheeks.

Colleen wiped her eyes with a handkerchief as she and Coran watched on from the sidelines. Lance and Keith then walked down the aisle and towards the side where the merfolk were watching and waving. Keith smiled and waved to his sisters who sent smiles and waves his way. Hunk and Pidge climbed up the side and sat on the railing while Matt in his seagull form landed between them, Slav climbed off him and landed on the railing as well.

Keith gave Pidge a hug and then was drawn into a hug as Hunk pulled him lose with tears in his eyes. Keith then ruffled Matt’s hair and patted Slav’s head gently.

“Thank you for everything you guys,” Keith whispered, Hunk smiled.

“What are friends for?” Hunk and Pidge then gave Lance a wave and jumped back into the water. Slav then climbed back onto Matt and the seagull lowered him back into the water.

Shiro handed Allura his trident and used his magic to lift himself up to the ship. Shiro stared at Keith and felt his eyes tear up, his son was all grown up now. Keith then drew his father into a hug and blinked back tears.

“I love you Daddy” Keith whispered softly as Shiro pulled back and ruffled his hair like he used to when he was a child.

Shiro smiled and glanced to the future behind Keith. Keith followed his gaze and smiled seeing Lance. The prince was in awe, but he never forgot his manners. Lance bowed and the sea king smiled and bowed his head.

Shiro then lowered himself back into the ocean and Allura handed him his trident again. Lance locked his arm with Keith’s and the two waved as the ship started to head back to the kingdom. Shiro waved his trident and over the ship was a large rainbow. The merfolk began to head back down to Altea to celebrate in their own way.

“ _Now we can walk!_

_Now we can run!_

_Now we can stay all day in the sun!_ ”

Keith sang as he turned to Lance, who sang back to the smiling prince.

“ _Just you and me!_ ”

Keith smiled and connected their hands, their golden wedding rings matching on their fingers.

“ _And I can be_ ”

The two sang the final line of the song and shared a final kiss as their new life began.

“ _Part of Your World!_ ”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Want to see the outfits in this AU? Check out my DeviantArt account under the name animelover8224. The outfits will be under the fold titled Klance Little Mermaid AU in my gallery.


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